


Haven

by Caramelquokka0325



Series: Home [2]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Adoptive family, Anxiety Attacks, Brief Sickness, Brotherhood, Deaf Character, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Foster Family, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Internal Conflict, Multi, Parent Bang Chan, Protective Minho, Tension, mature themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:13:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 45,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25789399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caramelquokka0325/pseuds/Caramelquokka0325
Summary: Changbin knew providing a home didn't always mean providing a safe place. He intended for Hyunjin to feel safe and loved, but his past prevented him from being able to accept the hand that Changbin extended to him. It seemed the distance only grew the further he reached out. Was it possible to heal a heart that was already broken?Chan couldn't have guessed how hard it would be to raise a child in a world where difference was met with exclusion. He didn't know how to foster the confidence a young child needed to survive the negativity. He didn't know how to make decisions that would affect his son for the rest of his life. Still, he would learn. But would love be enough to shoulder the burden of his son's struggles?
Series: Home [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1837153
Comments: 80
Kudos: 182





	1. Minho

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I am back with pt. 2! Excited? We get to continue our story with characters from pt. 1 Home! If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend heading there first since it’s the base for this one! I am so excited to be posting this and look forward to hearing your thoughts since I added in many elements to this one!  
> This one is definitely more mature so please be mindful of the rating! I will be updating tags and trigger warnings as I go! The first two chapters are nothing too harsh yet though! Mostly setup and recap on characters’ lives over the gap that takes place between the two stories! Also I will add some notes at the end of NEXT chapter since I can’t get it to upload correctly on this first one! Mostly explanations about deaf vs hard of hearing and things like that! Enjoy!

Minho woke up with something lumpy pressed against his back. He groaned and rolled over to fish whatever it was from underneath him. It was too early in the morning to deal with an uncomfortable sleeping position.

A puppy dog plushie appeared from underneath the blankets as he pulled it out by it’s one ear. It was a comfort toy that had followed him from leaving Chan and Ara’s house to returning. He would have chucked it across the room in annoyance but it was given to him by his best friend and had been his only comfort many nights so he tucked it under his arm instead.

Today was his first day of his third year in high school. He was dreading going back to school. It felt like summer break was too short. Yet, he dragged himself out of bed so he would be ready to go when Chan called for him.

As soon as he got out of the shower there was a knock on his door.

“Breakfast is ready! Hurry and eat before we have to leave.” Chan called out to him.

Minho smiled. Chan was always chaotic in the morning and far too energetic for Minho to keep up with sometimes. Still, he truly felt grateful every time he came downstairs to see him bustling around in the morning. He had been so close to losing both Chan and Ara that it made him value their presence in his life even more.

“Did you remember to put your new books in your backpack?” Chan asked Minho as he spread jam on toast in the kitchen.

“Yep.” Minho nodded and grabbed a banana.

“Yahh!” A voice called out before a little body collided with Minho’s leg.

“Watch out, the floor is slippery with just socks!” Chan warned but then sighed, his warning lost to the boy clinging to Minho.

“Are you excited for school?” Minho asked as he lifted him up into his arms.

“No.” The caramel haired boy replied honestly. “But daddy says we can get ice cream after.”

Minho smiled. Typical Chan offering rewards to motivate good behavior.

“Seungmin.” Chan tapped the boy in Minho’s arm on the shoulder to get his attention. “Can you go get dressed? We leave soon.”

Seungmin squeaked in delight at the prospect of disobeying and wrapped his arms around Minho’s neck. He buried his face in Minho’s shoulder making the older boy laugh.

“Don’t laugh.” Chan scolded. “He’ll think everything is a game.”

Chan tickled Seungmin enough to make him squeal and loosen his arms so he could pull him off Minho. He set him down on the floor and made eye contact.

“Go get dressed in the clothes I set out for you on your bed.” Chan repeated himself just in case Seungmin hadn’t caught what he had said the first time.

Seungmin pouted his bottom lip out but nodded and headed up the stairs as fast as he could go. His little footsteps pounded up the stairs and Chan winced. Minho knew he hated when Seungmin darted around in his socks on the slippery hardwood.

They had adopted Seungmin a little while after they had adopted Minho. It was hard for Minho to adjust to living with Seungmin at first. They all had to adjust but now things that seemed hard were just routine.

Seungmin was profoundly deaf which meant he couldn’t hear at all. He had been deaf since he was born and had begun using hearing aids to help him have limited hearing.

However, they hadn’t been much help and his parents had made the decision to give him bilateral cochlear implant surgery. Though it couldn’t restore full hearing, it greatly improved his perception of the world around him.

Chan and Ara had come into his life three years after his father had passed away and a few months after his mom had put him up for adoption. Now he lived with Chan, Ara, and Minho, where he thrived.

Minho had been daunted at first by learning how to best communicate with Seungmin. His implants helped tremendously but occasionally he would use sign language to describe a word he didn’t know how to say, or to get his point across quickly.

Chan and Ara were busy taking him to therapy which improved his lip reading and listening skills. He was a quick learner and was already excelling in what he was taught. Minho barely even thought about it anymore, much less worried about it.

Occasionally he would say something to Seungmin and it would be lost to him but he didn’t mind adjusting his communication to make it easier for the boy. He wasn’t terribly different from many other kids his age. Chan and Ara never highlighted his differences anyways. 

“Thanks for dropping me off. I’ll see you later.” Minho said as he got out of the car at the curb of his school. “Bye Seungmin.”

He waved to the boy in the backseat before looking back at Chan and giving him the best smile he could muster.

He knew Chan was worried. It was natural for any parent to worry. Minho had overheard Chan worrying that Seungmin would struggle or be bullied because of his hearing impairment but Ara had assured him it would be okay. 

He had barely made it to the front steps of the school before he was grabbed from behind.

“Geez!” Minho gasped. “Don’t scare me like that Jisung!”

“Oops!” His best friend laughed. “It’s our first day of school!”

“You sound too excited.” Minho pointed out. He was a grade above Jisung and a year older.

“Anyways, I already know I got one bad teacher because Changbin had him and said he was so hard! But it’s not like I can change. Apparently, he’s not terribly hard though…” Minho tuned out Jisung’s rambling slightly.

Jisung was interesting. He was shy and got nervous around new people but when he was comfortable, he was an open book.

“I wish we had classes together!” Jisung leaned against the side of the lockers as Minho put his books inside his own. “Could I jump up a grade?”

“In high school?” Minho gave Jisung an unimpressed look.

“I’ll see you at lunch though, right?” Jisung asked as Minho started walking to his first class.

“Yeah, yeah.” Minho waved to him. “See ya later.”

The first day of school was pretty uneventful until the very end. Minho had joined the soccer team last school year and he honestly wasn’t a bad player. He quickly became the team’s best forward. He really enjoyed soccer and being a part of the school team.

He was in the middle of stretching when someone he didn’t recognize joined them on the field. He was fairly tall with an athletic build, but Minho noticed right away his cleats and ball. He exuded the energy of someone who knew what they were doing.

Turns out, he definitely knew what he was doing. Minho quickly found that he was an exceptional forward. He had competition.

“Hey!” The new kid jogged up to Minho after practice as he was exchanging his cleats for regular shoes. “Great job today.”

“Ah, yeah.” Minho nodded. “You too.”

“Coach said you’re the team captain.” The boy said amiably.

“Yeah, I am.” Minho laced up his after-practice sneakers.

“You’re awfully quiet for a team captain.”

Minho looked up in surprise.

“I’m sorry, what’s your name again?” Minho asked.

“Taeho.” He raised his hand. “I’m a senior. You?”

“A junior.” Minho answered. “Good to… have you on the team.”

“I look forward to practicing with you.” Taeho smiled. “Last team I was on, I was the captain, so I guess I’ll have to adjust to a new style.”

“Don’t worry, we all kind of work together.” Minho shrugged. “It’s just a title.”

“Mm.” Taeho hummed.

“Well, I have to get going. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Minho stood and offered him a slight smile.

“See ya later!” Taeho waved and Minho thought he was friendly.

The next few weeks revealed just how much Taeho was committed to soccer, if it wasn’t apparent in the first few practices.

He was solely focused on winning and he switched back and forth between being friendly and agreeable, to being driven and quite harsh. While his dedication was good, Minho wondered how much his yelling really did to motivate the other team members.

He pretended to be close with Minho, always calling him captain and putting his arm over his shoulders after practice, but Minho felt like he wasn’t really interested in being friends. He would curse when Minho fumbled a pass but then high five him just minutes later. He was very hot and cold.

“I’m just a tiny bit short for banana milk!” Jisung told him as Minho put his books away at his locker.

“Here.” Minho handed him what he needed without even thinking. Jisung was always losing his money somehow or spending it too fast.

“Thanks! We can share!” Jisung snapped his fingers at Minho who just nodded.

“Hey captain!” 

Minho was startled by Taeho clapping him on the back from behind.

“Yikes, chemistry?” He grimaced, leaning against the lockers next to him. “Failed that.”

“It’s not bad.” Minho shrugged and closed his locker. He started to walk away but Taeho followed him with Jisung trailing behind.

“I had an idea for practice today.” Taeho said, shoving his hands in his pocket as he walked.

“Okay…” Minho was already skeptical.

“I was thinking we could separate the best players and have a scrimmage towards the end.” Taeho proposed.

Minho thought about it for a moment.

“The point of practice is to work out the whole team.” Minho commented.

“I know but it’s not like those players are getting much better.” Taeho rolled his eyes. “We should focus on the aces.”

Minho didn’t like the logic, or the way Taeho referred to them as “we”, as if he had some shared control in the situation.

“I’ll think about it.” He ended up saying.

It would be easier to ignore Taeho’s suggestion during practice where he could quickly move on to something else.

Minho was surprised again when Jisung grabbed his arm once Taeho was gone.

“You didn’t tell me you were friends with Taeho!” Jisung gasped.

“He’s not really my friend…” Minho shrugged. “Why is that important?”

“He’s like the coolest senior, and he’s class president, and plays soccer and is handsome and he even has his own car!” Jisung listed off his attributes.

“I thought he was popular or something.” Minho nodded.

“You’re missing the point!” Jisung rolled his eyes. “He totally does cool stuff like every weekend! Does he invite you?”

“He hasn’t so far.” Minho didn’t really care.

“If you’re friends with him then you’re basically friends with half the school!” Jisung exclaimed.

“That is definitely not how it works.” Minho frowned. “Also, he honestly isn’t very nice a lot of the time. He’s kind of got anger issues.”

Jisung ignored him and began to tell a story of one of his parties instead. Minho didn’t understand the hype over just one person. Especially if it was Taeho.

“Wanna go get dinner with me?” Chan leaned over Minho’s desk.

“I thought Mom was making dinner…” Minho replied.

“I know but I’m craving the one place we went last time.” Chan shrugged. “Let’s go just us two.”

“Okay.” Minho stood up and grabbed his jacket.

Every so often, Chan felt spontaneous. Minho was always his partner to try new things. Or revisit old things.

“How’s school going?” Chan asked once they were eating.

“Fine I guess.” Minho shrugged. “It’s just… school.”

“I can relate to that.” Chan nodded. “Your report card came yesterday.”

“And?” Minho raised an eyebrow.

“Perfect as usual.” Chan smiled. “I don’t know how you do it.”

“Mom said you were a terrible student.” Minho smirked and looked down at his food.

“Yeah… maybe that was true in high school.” Chan winced. “I wish I got better grades. Not because grades give you worth but it would have been nice to be more diligent back then.”

“Why did you get bad grades?” Minho was curious.

“You know… just trying this and that.” Chan rubbed his neck. “Went to too many parties, tried dating.”

“I thought you only dated Mom.” Minho frowned.

“Yeah, that was a roller coaster.” Chan laughed. “She put up with a lot.”

“I haven’t really thought about dating…” Minho admitted.

“So?” Chan shrugged. “There isn’t like a specific time people start dating. It’s whenever you find your person.”

“I doubt I’ll be able to find my best friend like you did.” Minho sighed. 

“The person you love should be your best friend.” Chan shook his head. “They should always come together.”

“So you’re saying you love Changbin?” Minho teased.

“In a different way, yes!” Chan laughed and threw a napkin at him. “You can have many best friends! But the person you love should be your best friend as well.”

“You know what I would love?” Minho got a mischievous look in his eye. “Ice cream.”

“How are you able to fit anything more in?” Chan groaned. “I’m so full!”

Minho thought about what Chan had said. He thought about his life at the moment and it seemed to be just school and soccer. It wasn’t bad to focus his time on those things but he wanted to try other things too.

Soccer was consuming almost all of his free time, especially since Minho had developed a fierce competitiveness in himself towards Taeho. Even though they were on the same team, Minho strived to be better than him. In a way, it felt like he had to be in order to protect his title of captain.

“Your pass was so sloppy.” Taeho commented during water break at practice. “And you have to keep an eye out for offsides.”

Minho gripped his water bottle and looked away. He forced himself not to say anything. It wasn’t worth adding to the tension on the field.

“Hey, I’m giving you pointers as your senior.” Taeho nudged him. “You should thank me.”

“Let’s just play.” Minho replied, tossing his water bottle down and heading back onto the field.

Apparently, Taeho had quite a grudge against Minho because he was constantly on him during the second half of their scrimmage. Finally, Minho broke away from his team members playing against him and raced towards the goal.

It felt like he had been hit be a solid wall. Taeho collided from him from the side at full speed, sending him to the ground. He hit the grass and rolled, the fall still knocking the air out of his lungs.

“What are you doing?!” Minho shouted at him. He was instantly furious at Taeho for going so far as to put his own teammate in danger of injury in just practice.

“My bad.” Taeho shrugged but he didn’t seem sorry at all.

Minho stalked forward and roughly grabbed the front of his jersey.

“You’re such a terrible player.” Minho spat. “Having to play dirty to win.”

“I’m just playing the game. You’re the one getting all hurt over solid defense.” Taeho snapped back.

“You only care about yourself! Not about the team.” Minho shoved him away.

“You’re a lousy captain with the state this team is in.” Taeho shot back and then shoved Minho in the shoulder.

Minho should have collected himself. He should have cooled his temper in the second that he stumbled back but he couldn’t. He was so angry and frustrated that Taeho was messing with his team that he snapped.

His fist connected with Taeho’s chin in a flash. It was a weak, slightly off-center punch, but it sent Taeho reeling back. Immediately Minho heard his couch shout and his teammate grabbed him, pulling him away from the older boy.

Minho would have hit him again but his coach got in between them and broke it up. Minho headed to the bench, seething still as Taeho shouted after him. His teammate patted him on the back, mostly to calm him down but maybe a little happy Taeho got some backlash for his behavior.

“I didn’t think I would have to deal with this behavior again.” Chan groaned and buried his head in his hands.

Minho sat sullenly at his desk chair, avoiding looking at Chan who was sitting on his bed.

“Why would you hit him?” Chan looked up at him. “Why go to that extreme?”

“He had it coming.” Minho said coldly. “He’s such a loser and he’s always messing things up. He’s definitely not a team player.”

“I don’t care what kind of kid he is; you can’t hit someone because you’re angry!” Chan urged him to understand.

“I didn’t do it just because I was angry!” Minho replied. “He’s literally been a jerk every practice and is messing with the whole flow of the team! He also acts like he’s better than anyone else.”

“Then why would you stoop to his level?” Chan asked him seriously.

“I didn’t go to his level!” Minho groaned and dropped his head back. “He technically pushed me first.”

“I thought you yelled at him first.” Chan said flatly. “Whatever the situation, you can’t do that and I won’t let this slide.”

“Fine then.” Minho said defiantly. “Punish me and get it over with.”

“I want you to see the point of this whole situation though!” Chan pressed his hands together. “What you do has consequences and I don’t think hitting your teammate will make practices great from now on, right? You have to think before you act out!”

“Great, thanks. I get it.” Minho mumbled, still feeling it was unfair.

“Just- go take a shower.” Chan sighed. “I’ll let you know your consequence in the morning.”

Minho headed straight into his bathroom and slammed the door. In the back of his mind he saw Chan’s point but he also couldn’t get it out of his head that Taeho was a bully plain and simple and he was standing up for himself.

He stood under the hot water in the shower and let the stiffness bleed from his muscles. He still felt sore inside when he got out of the shower. His heart was guilty that he was in trouble and causing work for Chan and Ara to deal with him.

Since he couldn’t sleep, he lay on his bed and texted Jisung. Whenever he didn’t feel he could come to Chan or Ara about something, he went to Jisung.

He rolled his eyes at his phone when Jisung started responding in shock to what had happened. He thought Minho had signed his own life away by hitting the school’s coolest senior. Minho reminded Jisung that he wasn’t cool and then set his phone aside.

He couldn’t have expected his coach to take matters into his own hands the next day at practice.

“Taeho will be what?” Minho asked again, sure he had misheard the coach.

“Taeho will be team captain with you. You’ll have to learn how to work together since you seem to have unresolved problems.” His coach explained.

Taeho smirked, probably already scheming how he could take over all of Minho’s authority. Minho just huffed and grabbed his bag to leave.

Over the weekend, Minho tried to put it out of his mind as much as possible. He would deal with it when it actually happened. He had an exam to study for on Monday anyways so he couldn’t be distracted.

Minho had stopped keeping his door closed since Seungmin tended not to go in a room with a closed door. He wasn’t sure why but he didn’t want to block the boy out.

At night, Minho kept his door closed but propped open just a tiny bit. Seungmin had never come in at night before but he wanted to leave the space for him just in case.

He had a long night of studying ahead of him but he was laying on his bed, trying to focus on the chapter he had to read. He was honestly zoning out and almost didn’t notice when Seungmin peeked his head through the doorway.

He noticed him when he made his way over to the side of his bed, stumbling over Minho’s backpack he had left on the floor.

Minho never considered himself a gentle or affectionate person, but Seungmin seemed to open up those feelings inside him. Something about him was so pure and innocent, Minho felt the need and the responsibility to protect him. He was his older brother after all.

So he lay his book down and extended his arm for Seungmin to come to him.

Seungmin’s face lit up and he quickly climbed onto Minho’s bed and snuggled against him. Minho laughed at how easily Seungmin drew close and put his head on Minho’s shoulder.

He noticed Seungmin didn’t have his “ears” in at the moment. Usually he took his cochlear implants off right before bed.

He kept his arm around him while holding his book up again and continuing to read.

Seungmin lay still for a few minutes before he tilted his head up to look at Minho.

“Can you read to me like Daddy does?” He asked.

“Hm?” Minho looked down at him so he could read his lips.

“Like this.” Seungmin dropped his head down onto Minho’s chest and then lifted it again to look at him for his response.

“Oh… yeah, that’s fine.” Minho nodded.

Seungmin smiled happily and positioned himself so his ear was pressed against Minho’s chest and his arm lay just under his ribcage.

Minho had seen Chan read to Seungmin without his cochlear implants before. Seungmin would lay on him on the couch like a koala and press his ear against his chest. Of course he couldn’t actually hear the words Chan said but he was feeling the vibrations of his voice and the way his chest expanded and contrasted.

Ara was skeptical about it since it didn’t improve his listening skills or utilize sign language or lip reading. Chan did it anyways but only every so often.

Seungmin was more physically affectionate than many other kids. The voice of parents was a primary comfort to children. Without being able to comfort in that way, Chan and Ara facilitated more physical interaction to make him feel safe and secure.

Seungmin was given many cuddles and snuggles even though he was able to hear more thanks to his cochlear implants. It was soothing to him to have auditory comfort and physical comfort.

Minho didn’t mind reading out loud if it meant Seungmin could feel the vibrations of his voice and feel comforted by the physical touch at the same time.

Seungmin was warm and cuddly and his soft hair tickled Minho’s chin. He was comforting in a way. Sometimes Minho sought Seungmin out just to give him a hug or squeeze his face because he was so cute. 

“That’s where he went…” Chan appeared in the doorway, looking tired.

Seungmin lay still, not being able to see Chan or sense his presence audibly.

“He asked me to read to him.” Minho said a bit shyly. “Are you trying to get him to bed?”

“Yeah but keep going if you don’t mind.” Chan leaned his head against the doorway. “He usually falls asleep like that and I’m too tired to have another battle.”

Minho nodded and kept reading with Chan watching them for a little bit. He left and then returned after a bit of time had passed. Sure enough, Seungmin had fallen asleep on Minho’s chest.

“Thank you.” Chan whispered as he gently lifted Seungmin into his arms without waking him. Minho nodded and watched him carry Seungmin out.

“Chan?” He called out before he could leave.

“Mm hm?” Chan turned back to him.

“I…” Minho trailed off as Chan waited patiently. It was so hard to say what he wanted to say. “Nevermind.”

Chan smiled anyways and Minho knew he understood what he wanted to say but couldn’t.


	2. Chan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovelies! Forgot to say that I will be posting every other day! 10 chapters total! Now… welcome to major Seungmin hours! Since I don’t have his POV and he was barely introduced in the first part of this series, I spend a lot of time developing personality. Spoiler alert: He’s a real cutie! I have some additional things to say but I will save them for the end! Enjoy!

Sometimes, Seungmin didn’t want to talk. Those times were always the hardest. He was stubborn when he wanted to be and it practically drove Ara mad.

“I don’t know what you want Minnie. Can you tell me? Sign to me?”

Chan walked into the kitchen after a long day to Seungmin sobbing his heart out and Ara trying to understand why.

“What’s going on?” Chan asked, setting down his jacket.

“I don’t know anymore.” Ara sighed in defeat. “Maybe it’s just an attention thing? Maybe we should give him space.”

Chan came into Seungmin’s eyesight and gave him a questioning look.

Seungmin finally motioned to himself and then to Chan while sniffling and looking so pitiful that Chan’s heart melted.

“Want me to take you?” He asked and held his arms out.

Seungmin nodded and extended his own arms.

“I guess you have the magic touch.” Ara said as he picked Seungmin up.  
“He just knows I’ll cave and give him what he wants.” Chan laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ll calm him down and see what’s up.”

Seungmin went limp like he usually did, his head leaning against Chan’s shoulder and his arms dangling lifelessly. Chan had to sit down on the couch to support his deadweight.

“It was just a long day.” Ara explained to Chan. “School is just...”

“Mm…” Chan hummed and patted Seungmin’s back, who had calmed almost instantly.

“How was your day?” Ara asked.

“Productive, but tiring.” Chan replied. “I take it yours was stressful.”

“I could use a nap.” She sighed. “I can’t imagine people managing with an infant.”

“Are you talking about me?” Seungmin mumbled against Chan’s shoulder.

He laughed and gave Ara a reassuring smile.

“Go take a nap. I’ll take care of this puppy and get dinner started.” He told her.

“Aw, but you had a long day too.” Ara pouted and bent down to kiss him.

“Go rest.” Chan smiled and shooed her away.

She headed upstairs and Chan took a minute to collect himself and wind down after a long day. It was nice to be home, even if he had responsibilities greeting him right away.

“Okay bud.” Chan tried to pull Seungmin off of him, drawing a whine from the moody boy.

“Aiyo…” Chan sighed seeing his tearstained face.

He carried him to the kitchen and set him on the counter so he could wipe his face with a damp towel. Seungmin sat with a pout on his face.

“Why are you upset?” Chan asked.

Seungmin shook his head and reached his arms out for Chan again.

“Dinner first little puppy.” Chan sighed and set him down on the floor. 

It was nice that Seungmin was so cuddly but Chan had to learn not to give in to him all the time. Ara said that he babied Seungmin too much and Chan admitted it was true.

Seungmin hugged his leg and made it hard for him to walk around the kitchen but he managed to get dinner started. He wasn’t sure what was triggering Seungmin’s emotional sensitivity. Some days he was just grumpy.

Bath time was another struggle as Seungmin refused to even go near the bathroom. Chan didn’t want to trigger a tantrum by physically picking him up and depositing him in the tub but he was running out of options.

“Minnie please…” Chan huffed and crouched down next to the little boy trying to find pajamas to wear himself. Chan already had a pair waiting for after the bath.

“Bath time?” Ara asked from the doorway.

“Yeah.” Chan sighed. “There’s dinner downstairs. I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Need some help?” She asked.

“Go eat. I’ll call you if I need you.” Chan assured her.

Bath time was really a one-person job. It got too hectic if both of them got involved.

“Minnie, stop.” Chan caught Seungmin’s arm to keep him from falling over as he struggled to get his foot in one leg of his pajama pants.

“Come on baby.” Chan gently tugged him forwards and away from his dresser. “Let me help you.”

Seungmin was still for a moment but as soon as Chan reached towards his ears he stepped back and clamped his hands tightly over them. Chan was really coming to the end of his patience with how uncooperative Seungmin was being.

“I have to take them out so they don’t get wet, and you don’t wear them in bed silly!” Chan mustered up a positive tone of voice and tickled his fingers lightly over Seungmin’s belly and up his chest and then to his ears.

He tried to gently pull Seungmin’s hands away but he pressed them tightly to the side of his head. Chan hated to do it but he applied a bit more force to pull his hands away.

“No!” Seungmin wailed, startling Chan. “Don’t take my ears away!”

“I’m just putting them aside for the nighttime.” Chan explained. 

“I don’t want to!” Seungmin cried and then promptly sat down on the floor, curling his hands over his ears again.

Chan wasn’t sure what to do at that point. Seungmin was essentially past the point of reasoning and he was overly emotional so nothing was getting through to him.

Chan sat back on his heels and considered what to do with the boy in front of him. He honestly wanted to give up but then Seungmin would think his behavior had worked.

It took a moment of thought, but Chan came up with a new plan. He went to get Seungmin’s biggest weakness.

“What are you doing on the floor?” Minho asked when he came into the room, Chan trailing behind him.

“I don’t know…” Seungmin answered, looking up at Minho curiously.

“No bath yet?” Minho asked while he crouched down and reached for Seungmin’s implants.

Seungmin leaned back slightly, torn between letting Minho take them out or putting up a fight. Before he could really process, Minho had taken one out and set it on the dresser before doing the same on the other side.

Chan watched Minho work with him quietly from the background. He was impressed with how Minho handled him.

It was a combination of subtle distraction and just getting the task done. Minho talked to Seungmin about something other than what his hands were doing. Soon he had Seungmin following him into the bathroom and popped into the tub.

“What meltdown?” Minho asked cheekily as he passed Chan to leave the room.

“Hey!” Chan gasped but smiled. Who knew Minho had the magic charm too?

After getting all ready for bed, Seungmin was still in a mood but wanted attention. He crossed his arms when Chan tried to pick him up and ran downstairs to find either Minho or Ara.

Chan was so tired he just lay on his back staring up at Seungmin’s ceiling with the glow in the dark stars.

“Wiped out?”

Chan jumped at the suddenly deep voice seeming to come from nowhere.

“Changbin?” He gasped, sitting up to look at his best friend in the doorway.

“I just stopped by to wish you happy birthday.” Changbin smiled.

“My birthday is tomorrow you idiot.” Chan rolled his eyes.

“I know that!” Changbin laughed. “Happy early birthday! Ara already reminded me like five times, not like I would forget.”

“What are you really doing here then?” Chan asked.

“Why do you think I’m here?” Changbin sat on Seungmin’s bed and looked at him sheepishly.

“You probably want to talk…” Chan frowned and tilted his head in confusion.

Changbin continued to smile nervously like Chan would get him in trouble or something.

“Changbin…” Recognition dawned on Chan’s face. “No way…”

“Okay but let me explain!” Changbin raised his hand.

“Nope! No!” Chan stood up and shook his head. “There is no way you are already thinking of that.”

“Just hear me out!” Changbin laughed.

“You’ve had Jisung for only three years so far!” Chan covered Changbin’s mouth to keep him from speaking. “You’re trying to kill yourself.”

“You already voted no?” Changbin pouted when Chan released his mouth.

“I didn’t say that.” Chan sat next to him. “I was just expressing my natural reaction!”

“A very strong reaction.” Changbin poked his side.

“You are literally so busy it’s insane!” Chan defended his reaction. “How are you going to find time for another kid?”

“I’m not that busy now that school has started again and I don’t have to entertain Jisung all day every day!” Changbin shot back. “I think I will be just fine!”

“I’m assuming you know this kid?” Chan lay back on the bed.

“Just a little but yes. I would be his fifth foster home.” Changbin lay beside him.

“Fifth?” Chan was surprised. “Do you know the reasoning why he’s cycled through so many?”

“His mom is an addict. It seems like she’s curbed her addiction but then she relapses and it’s been going on like that. This last one was because the family he was staying with has to move and they can’t care for him long term.” Changbin explained.

“How old?” Chan asked.

“Almost fifteen.” Changbin replied.

“I know you already know this, but fostering an older kid can be really tough. And you’ll have two kids in high school. That’s… a lot.” Chan told him.

“I know it’s a lot but I’ve managed so far!” Changbin laughed. “But in all seriousness, I’ve given it a lot of thought…”

“I’m happy for you.” Chan said quietly. “I really am. I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

“Thanks. I still need your vote though.” Changbin continued to be silly.

“Did Ara vote?” Chan asked.

“Yep, she said go for it.” Changbin nodded.

“Alright then, it’s a yes from me too.” Chan laughed and punched Changbin in the shoulder.

“Can we say yes to finally going to bed?” Ara asked from the doorway. Seungmin standing next to her.

“That’s my bed.” Seungmin commented when he saw both Chan and Changbin laying on it.

“Well I wasn’t sure since you weren’t in it.” Chan scratched his head.

“I’ve gotta get back home.” Changbin clapped his hand against Chan’s back before standing. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.” Chan waved to him.

He then turned his attention to Seungmin who was rubbing his eyes sleepily.

“Don’t worry, I’ll put him down for the night.” Chan took him from Ara. “He’s tired himself out being so up and down today.”

“Hopefully tomorrow is better because I can’t handle one more day.” Ara sighed.

Seungmin couldn’t hear them since he didn’t have his implants in. Usually Chan and Ara refrained from speaking about him with him present even when he wasn’t hearing. It had just been a long night.

“Can you lay with me Daddy?” Seungmin asked after yawning.

“Sure thing, bud.” Chan tucked him into bed and then lay down next to him, Ara turning off the light for them.

Seungmin snuggled up to him as if he had never rejected his attention just an hour or so ago. That was the thing with little kids. They never held a grudge or frustration for long.

Chan considered himself tremendously lucky. It was truly as if Seungmin had been made for their family. 

They had decided to adopt Seungmin just before finding out that Minho was open for adoption. Plans to adopt Seungmin abruptly came to a halt before they even were able to develop. At the time, Chan and Ara had been so focused on Minho, they weren’t sure if they should consider Seungmin again.

His adoption was an open adoption, which Chan had been skeptical about. They had only really expected having one kid. With Seungmin’s disability and their lack of experience, they had decided it would be mostly a leap of faith and a lot of hard work raising him. 

They weren’t sure if they could have that same level of commitment as they had planned when Minho joined their family permanently. It took a lot of going back and forth before finally making the decision that Chan had been right all along.

Seungmin was really meant for them. And having Minho and Seungmin both didn’t affect the amount of love and care they invested in each of them. Their lives were a little busier, sometimes chaotic, but at the end of the day it was totally worth it.

Not only had Seungmin been able to thrive in their household, he was also able to connect with all three of them deeply. As always, an adoptive parent worried in the beginning about whether or not their child will bond with them. By the end of the first month, Seungmin was already calling Chan daddy which absolutely wrecked his heart. He was so glad Seungmin felt comfortable with them and considered them his real parents.

“Daddy, can you open this for me?” Seungmin held up a rather large bottle of pink lemonade.

Chan smiled. He never got tired of Seungmin calling him dad. Both of his kids were so darn cute he could never get tired of anything they did. Except for the occasional grumpy attitudes.  
Seungmin was dressed in shorts and a blue shirt that Ara had bought a week ago but it already had a grass stain on it. Ara’s greatest enemy was grass stains.

“When is my birthday?” Seungmin asked as Chan handed the bottle back to him.

“Not for a while bud.” Chan answered while returning to washing fruits in the sink. 

“How old am I?” Chan looked down at him, worried he didn’t know his own age but Seungmin was smiling playfully.

“I’m eight!” He jumped up excitedly and patted Chan’s side with his hand. “Which means you and I are twenty years apart!”

“Very good!” Chan praised.

Seungmin ran off, almost colliding with Ara and probably spilling some lemonade on the way. Ara shook her head with a smile and came to give Chan a hug from behind.

“Happy birthday.” She said.

“Seungmin was making me feel old.” Chan pouted.

“What are you talking about?” She gasped. “I don’t know many dads your age with a seventeen-year-old and an eight-year-old!”

“Exactly.” Chan teased. “At least I haven’t slipped into using dad jokes yet.”

“Oh you definitely have bad jokes.” She confirmed and moved away to grab a bowl for the fruit. “Also, I told you that you weren’t supposed to prepare for your own birthday party!”

“I’m sorry!” Chan set down a strainer of freshly washed strawberries. “It distracts me from the fact that I have a birthday in the first place.”

“Gosh.” Ara shook her head. “I’ve never met someone who hates their own birthday.”

“Thanks for making it special.” Chan consoled her with a kiss before drying his hands and heading outside.

Minho was sitting at the table they had set up probably playing a game on his phone, or texting Jisung even though they would see each other in less than an hour. Changbin and Jisung would be coming over, as well as Misun since she felt like part of the family now.

“Seungmin, what are you doing?” Chan stood over him where he was crouched on the edge of the grass pouring his pink lemonade out onto the dirt.

“I’m sharing with the ants.” Seungmin was intently focused on pouring lemonade bit by bit over an ant hill.

“I told him not to.” Minho said from behind him. “Lemonade is expensive.”

Chan hated to chastise Seungmin for being a kid even if it was silly or wasteful.

“Ants don’t drink very much bud.” Chan took the bottle from his hands. “The rest is for you to drink.”

“Also you’re drowning them.” Minho didn’t even look up.

“Hey!” Seungmin stood up and jabbed his finger a few times in Minho’s direction wordlessly who just smiled.

“Okay, calm down.” Chan laughed and patted Seungmin’s head.

Seungmin was all energetic boy. Ara would often shoot her head up and start looking for him if he was being too quiet. He was always getting dirty somehow and Ara had lost the fight of trying to get him to take his shoes off before coming into the house.

He would charge in the sliding door and race up the stairs before Chan could catch him and Ara would groan as he dashed back outside a few moments later. Chan would come into his bedroom at night and find dirty footprints containing evidence of Seungmin’s playing outside marring the white carpet. He always made sure to vacuum it up before Ara could see it.

It was nice that when Seungmin ran out of energy, he wanted to be cuddly. It was a good balance even if it left Chan tired out as well.

Minho was vastly more even tempered. He was an old soul. Sometimes it made Chan sad but other times he appreciated his steadiness. He didn’t mind when Chan came to lay on his bed while he was studying because Chan just needed some peace and quiet.

He told Chan the deepest worries of his heart and shared his joys. He was Chan’s first and would always be his first.

Chan stood with his hand on Minho’s back as Ara fired up the barbecue for him. He loved his family. He was happy with his family.

He also considered himself lucky to have a best friend who was with him through all the ups and downs. He enjoyed the simple moments just spending time with Changbin. It was relaxing.

“Are you going to the street festival they are having tomorrow?” Changbin asked him as they worked together at the barbecue.

“Nah, Ara signed us up for this parent support group thing.” Chan waved his hand vaguely to indicate he had no knowledge of the event.

“Oh yeah? What for?” Changbin asked.

“It’s for parents who have deaf kids.” Chan explained. “Apparently we sit and talk about things and maybe do activities together.”

“That’s really cool!” Changbin seemed enthusiastic. “It’s good to have community.”

“Yeah I guess.” Chan shrugged. “I usually don’t do those kinds of things but I might learn a lot.”

“The more shared experience the better, right?” Changbin nudged him with his elbow.

Chan agreed. Even though the idea of a support group made him cringe, he appreciated the benefits of them. They were good, especially for new parents.

He mostly forgot about it for the rest of the night, enjoying celebrating his birthday with the people he loved. He was definitely blessed.

“You literally cannot wear that.” Ara stopped him as soon as she met him outside of the place where the support group would be held. They had both come from work.

“Why not?” Chan looked down at himself. “You said casual dress code.”

“Casual doesn’t mean shorts and a plain white shirt!” She smacked him lightly. “You look like you’re heading to the beach!”

“What’s wrong with beach clothes?” He raised his hands.

“Oh, I give up with you.” She shook her head and headed inside.

It wasn’t really the clothes that made Chan stand out. He was surprised to only find two other men at the support group.

“Well this is awkward.” He whispered to Ara as she poured herself coffee from the table they had set up.

“Just don’t cause a stir and you’ll be fine.” She patted his arm.

The first thing the group leader asked them to do was introduce themselves. Chan sat awkwardly while Ara introduced them and shared some basic facts. The age of both their kids, their jobs, and how they had joined the group.

“Why don’t you share a bit about Seungmin.” Ara gestured to him with a smile.

He didn’t really want to talk but talking about Seungmin was easier than talking about himself. He had explained to many people about Seungmin being deaf when they asked about his implant or it came up in conversation. It wouldn’t be too hard, and he knew the group was most interested in their child.

“Seungmin was born profoundly deaf.” Chan started. “He’s our adopted son so we weren’t with him through his whole journey, but he’s been with us for quite some time now.”

Chan went on to explain briefly about his implants and how they were taking him to different specialists so he could speak well and function without his “ears” as well as with them.

Ara smiled at him when he was done, proud that he had spoken so well.

“We haven’t had any parents join our group with your approach.” The leader responded slowly. “Forgive me for being surprised.”

“Surprised about what?” Chan asked kindly.

“None of us in this circle have hearing children.” She gestured around.

“Oh.” Chan was surprised but not terribly shocked. Not every parent chose to search for options that resulted in their child hearing.

“I believe we have a different mindset then you.” She winced a little and a few parents nodded their heads.

Chan was confused and he could tell Ara was too.

“Our group focuses on how we can best support and equip our children to function as deaf in a hearing world. Your child seems to be hearing impaired.” She smiled but it seemed fake. 

“He was born deaf.” Chan blurted out. “How is that different from these other children?”

“How can I explain…” She thought for a moment.

Another woman from the circle spoke up in the meantime.

“When my husband and I found out our daughter was deaf we knew right away we weren’t going to change anything about her.” She said. “The most important thing we recognize is that our children don’t need to be changed.”

“Yes.” The leader nodded her agreement. “No child needs to be ‘fixed’. Being deaf doesn’t make them much different from anyone else.”

“You’re right.” Ara answered. “Seungmin being deaf doesn’t change who he is as a person. But his implants have helped him tremendously. He is even beginning to be able to distinguish softer sounds and, yes school is hard, but he’s becoming more confident and-.”

“But is he confident in who he is without these ‘ears’, as you call them.” The woman leaned forward. “We as parents shouldn’t put too much emphasis on these devices. They take away from our children being confident in who they are.”

Chan was stunned. Many of the things she said were true. Of course Seungmin didn’t need to be “fixed”. He also wasn’t terribly different from other children. Chan wanted him to be confident and happy with himself but he also wanted Seungmin to be able to experience the world in any ways he could.

“Hold on. You have to remember that we aren’t the ones who had his surgery done.” Chan stopped her. “You’re projecting these opinions upon us that we didn’t go through in the decision-making process.”

“Would you have his surgery done if it was up to you?” She asked.

“Yes I would.” Chan didn’t even hesitate before he spoke. “I respect your decision to not do the same for your own child but I really don’t see a problem here.”

Ara bit her lip and looked uncomfortable.

“We just want to embrace our children as they are. We don’t pursue ways to change them or make them fit society’s expectations.” She was infuriatingly calm while basically attacking the decision that Seungmin’s parents had made. And the decision that Chan and Ara lived with on the daily. It felt wrong to shame the progress Seungmin had made. Chan believed that he genuinely loved being able to hear.

“His implants have done nothing but help him excel.” Chan shot back. “He’s able to do anything other kids can do.”

“And deaf children cannot?” She questioned.

“That’s not what I meant-.” Chan was stopped by Ara gently placing her hand on his knee.

“I’m sorry if we just can’t understand.” The woman raised her hands. “Our kids have some challenges but nothing that warrants changing who they are.”

Chan had to bite his tongue to keep silent as the meeting finished. Their point of view wasn’t necessarily wrong in the sense that they had chosen to have their children be fully deaf and lived their lives that way. 

But them subtly attacking Seungmin’s parent’s choice and Chan and Ara’s support of that choice felt wrong. Not only was Chan defensive of Seungmin’s ability to hear, he also didn’t want to admit that it woke up an insecurity in him.

Was Seungmin really happy with who he was? Did he value himself even being deaf? If he couldn’t hear, would he be okay? He was only eight so deep soul searching wasn’t taking place for him yet but would he eventually have those thoughts?

“We’re never going back there again.” Chan said as they headed to the car afterwards.

“I didn’t know it would be like that.” Ara frowned.

“Did you hear what they were saying?” Chan pointed back at the building. “That was just awful.”

“Calm down.” Ara motioned for him to talk once they were in the car. “They had a different view than us in some areas and we should be able to respect that.”

“Respect that they’re wrong?” Chan scoffed.

“Think of where they are coming from.” Ara replied. “They had to make a hard decision that we didn’t have to. Of course their opinions will be colored by that. Since we don’t know what that’s like we have to be mindful of their feelings, even if they are wrong.”

“Did you think they were wrong?” Chan asked, suddenly skeptical.

“In some areas yes and in other areas no.” She thought carefully. “This isn’t a community we will be a part of, but they seem like they can be good support for each other. Even if they are wrong in some things, we don’t have the ability or influence to change their minds. In this case we have to let it go.”

“Still makes me angry.” Chan huffed, starting the car.

Ara reached over to lace her hand in his.

“It was kind of hot to see you defend Seungmin.” She teased.

“Oh yeah?” Chan leaned forward until they were inches apart. He nudged his nose under her chin and began pressing kisses along her neck.

She brushed her hand through his hair for a moment and then her fingers stilled.

“Did you use Seungmin’s kid shampoo?” She sniffed his hair.

“Yes.” Chan groaned and dropped his head. “I ran out so I borrowed his.”

She laughed deeply and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

“You’re so adorable what do I even do with you?”

“How about we go home and watch a movie together after the kids go to bed?” He suggested. “It’s been a while since we did anything other than crash into bed and sleep for six hours.”

“Five hours if I have to help Minho with homework and Seungmin gets up earlier than usual.” She sighed.

“I already miss them.” Chan pulled back to buckle his seatbelt.

“You’re really a super dad.” She shook her head. “I wouldn’t mind a week vacation just us right now.”

“You would miss them.” Chan smiled.

“Yeah I would.” She agreed.

Chan was woken up early in the morning by frantic pats on his arm. He blinked sleepily at Seungmin continuing to pat his arm until he was fully awake.

“Wake up!” Seungmin whined and turned his head to look at Chan better.

Chan looked at the clock. Why did he have to get up so early? Seungmin had a fantastic internal clock which always woke him up before seven. Chan almost never had to wake him up for school.

“I want to watch the tiger show!” He said.

“The what?” Chan rubbed his eyes.

“It’s a nature documentary Minho was watching yesterday.” Ara informed him, rolling over with a yawn. “It’s fine for him to watch.”

Ara usually didn’t let Seungmin watch TV so early in the morning but Chan and her were both tired and couldn’t handle his energy before breakfast or a few cups of coffee.

“Okay, go get your ears.” Chan mumbled.

Seungmin dropped to his knees and rested his chin on the bed with puppy dog eyes. Chan forgot he couldn’t hear without his processor and transmitter in.

He repeated himself but signed his words so Seungmin could understand.

Seungmin ran off to get them from his room.

“Why doesn’t he ever bother you?” Chan grumbled, trying to force himself out of bed.

“Because you’re too soft.” She touched his nose. “He knows you’ll give in.”

Chan sighed and she laughed.

“It’s a good thing. He really loves you a lot.” She assured him.

Seungmin reappeared with his external processor for his implants and Chan sat up to help him fit them onto his ears. The implant was composed of two parts, the external microphone and sound processor which sent signals to the implanted receiver which was the part that had been placed internally with surgery.

Chan hesitated before connecting the first one. Seungmin waited patiently between his knees, his fingers still tapping energetically on Chan’s thigh.

Chan couldn’t get the woman’s words from the support group out of his head. Would Seungmin be happier learning how to live the way he was? Were his implants a way of changing him?

Seungmin looked up at him, confused why he was taking so long.

“Do you want to maybe go without these today?” Chan asked. “We could have a quiet day.”

Quiet days were extremely rare but they helped Seungmin rely more on lipreading and body cues, as well as gave him a break from overwhelming stimulation if his processor had been adjusted.

Seungmin immediately frowned after reading his lips and shook his head.

“I want to hear the tiger roar!” He pulled on Chan’s sleeve to hurry him up.

“Okay bud, just checking.” Chan gently attached the device. “Wait!”

Before Seungmin could escape, he cupped his face in his hands and looked into his innocent brown eyes. 

“Kiss.” Chan rubbed his nose side to side against Seungmin’s, making him giggle and rub his hand over his nose. It was his ticklish spot.

When he had run out of the room, Ara reached up to touch his back.

“He deserves to hear the tigers roar.” She said gently. “And to experience any other thing the way he wants.”

“I know I just… worried.” Chan admitted.

“He’s doing just fine love.” Ara assured him.

Once he had flipped the TV on and found Seungmin’s show he headed to Minho’s room. He was a bit surprised to find Minho already up and ready, dressed in his workout clothes for some reason.

“You’re not usually an early bird.” Chan commented.

“I have to practice.” Minho shoved his cleats in his bag.

“It’s the weekend…” Chan was confused.

“I know, but I want to get practice in so I’m going to the park.” Minho replied.

“Want me to drive you?” Chan offered.

“I was actually going to jog there.” Minho answered. “To work on stamina. Also, Changbin can pick me up since I’m hanging out with Jisung.”

“Okay.” Chan didn’t remember him making those plans but he didn’t mind. “Just make sure you eat breakfast first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seungmin is really the cutest hehe! I spent a lot of time on him in this chapter to build some more character profile and background but I will continue to have him be a primary part of every Chan POV! Chan’s character struggle will be revolving around caring for him and learning how to balance his life with a little kid with a disability! It’s really soft and sweet! Also a lot of this is inspired by one of the kiddos I work with who is profoundly deaf and communicates with me through sign language! I am familiar with cochlear implants but don’t go into extreme detail for the sake of the story and since I’m not an expert!  
> Important note! One of my lovely readers asked where Felix and Jeongin are! They will be in the story but not in this section since I have a ton of POV’s for this one! I will give them their own storylines in the future!


	3. Hyunjin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! Quick note to be clear! I was asked about their specific ages in this story since there was a three-year time gap in between pt. 1 and pt.2! Here are the kids ages! Now Jisung is 14, Minho is 16, Hyunjin is 15, and Seungmin is 8! I kept messing up with writing in their ages so my apologies! I fixed it!  
> Please pay attention to tags and warnings from here on! There are some mature themes that are beginning to develop though I will keep them non-graphic! Stay safe everyone!  
> TW: Anxiety Attack, Avoidance Symptoms, Vomiting (non-descriptive)

Hyunjin wasn’t prepared to leave his home. He wasn’t prepared to suddenly be in a new place. He wasn’t prepared to be suddenly uprooted with no indication of when or where he would be replanted.

He knew that his mom had a big problem. Deep down, he knew it was bigger than just the drugs. They had changed her. Her life revolved around the next high. He no longer had a place in her mindless days.

People came to the house. They tried to make her see and, in the end, she gave in. But recovery meant she had to go away and Hyunjin couldn’t follow. He was used to the cycle but it didn’t get easier.

“This is your room. You’ll be sharing with Jisung.” 

Hyunjin blinked slowly and then uncurled his fingers from his suitcase. He set his backpack on the bed and then stood in the middle of the room. It was strange and unknown. He didn’t know where he was.

Of course his caseworker explained everything and he knew deep down this was his persisting reality. It didn’t seem real that he would be alone in a foreign place. Again.

“Can I get you anything?” 

Hyunjin turned back to the man who would be his temporary parent.

“No thank you.” He replied quietly.

“I can give you some time to familiarize yourself with the room and get settled in.” The man said. 

Changbin. His name was Changbin, Hyunjin repeated in his head. Hyunjin had never met him before today but he was supposed to live in his house. It made him feel uncomfortable.

“Thank you.” Hyunjin bowed his head respectfully towards him as he left the room.

Upon second glance, the room was painted navy blue and had two beds set against opposite walls. One side had a desk covered in trinkets and school supplies with photos taped up haphazardly against the wall above it. The cream-colored bed had two plushies perched against the pillows.

Hyunjin relaxed marginally at the comforting sight of a room that was lived in. It offset his designated side of the room which had the simple bed and an empty desk.

Everything in the house felt detached from his perception of it because it seemed like the house of strangers, yet it was meant to be his house at the same time. It made him feel weird to place his clothes in a drawer that wasn’t his own and set his books on a desk that wasn’t originally his.

It was awkward sitting at the dinner table with strangers who he was expected to spend who knows how long with.

“I can take you shopping on Friday after school.” Changbin addressed him. “Make a list of what you need and I’ll get it for you.”

“Thank you but… I don’t need anything.” Hyunjin said shyly.

Changbin looked at him in surprise but let it pass.

“If you need anything just let me know. I’ll still be going on Friday to get Jisung some things.”

Hyunjin knew that was one of Changbin’s jobs as his temporary guardian. He didn’t want to be rude but he hated to have his foster parents do things for him. He avoided it if at all possible.

“Do you like movies?” The young boy, Jisung, asked Hyunjin as they put away their dishes.

He was very talkative. Hyunjin was slightly intimidated at first at the thought of talking to him. Even if he was probably just trying to make an effort.

“Um, some movies I like…” Hyunjin answered quietly.

“Oo which ones are your favorite- hey!” Jisung grabbed Hyunjin’s shoulder suddenly, making him jump. “We should go see the new one that came out yesterday!”

The space suddenly felt claustrophobic for Hyunjin and he stepped away. 

“Can you take the strawberries out of the refrigerator?” Changbin patted Jisung’s back.

Hyunjin was feeling more and more uncomfortable. Everything felt too busy and fast paced. Not to mention he didn’t even know them.

“Oh Hyunjin!” Jisung said from behind him. Suddenly his hand dropped onto Hyunjin’s shoulder again, startling him.

The glass Hyunjin had been holding hit the floor and shattered. Hyunjin’s mind blanked out for a moment as he stared down at the broken pieces. Slowly he crouched down, ready to pick them up.

“Oops.” Jisung whispered.

“Everyone just don’t move and I’ll sweep it up.” Changbin said.

Hyunjin wasn’t fully paying attention. The sound of the glass shattering reminded him of his mom. She fumbled and broke things all the time.

Hyunjin didn’t mean to break one of Changbin’s things. He had just been startled by Jisung. He reached out for a piece of the glass to clean it away but a hand suddenly caught his wrist. Changbin had bent down and stopped him from touching the sharp pieces.

“Don’t touch me!” Hyunjin gasped, jerking away and standing. He stepped back but his back hit the edge of the counter.

“It’s okay.” Changbin said gently, holding his hands up to show he wouldn’t do anything. “I won’t touch you.”

Hyunjin let out a shaky breath, holding his wrist to his chest. He was suddenly hyper aware of Jisung’s eyes on him.

“Stay there. I’ll clean it really fast.” Changbin smiled and went to get a broom and dustpan.

Hyunjin looked down at the ground. The awkward silence only amplified his embarrassment. The sudden unexpected touches had scared him.

“I’m sorry.” Hyunjin apologized once the floor was clean.

“It was just an accident!” Changbin waved away his apology. “It’s nothing to worry about.”

Hyunjin nodded, ready to go upstairs but Changbin stopped him.

“Hey Hyunjin?” He said once Jisung was gone. “I noticed you didn’t like when I touched you. Or Jisung. Is that something I should be conscientious of?”

Hyunjin felt his face grow hot. Changbin was very observant but maybe it was good he had asked. He would know right away.

“I don’t like to be touched.” He answered quietly.

“Okay.” Changbin nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for letting me know.”

Hyunjin nodded his head and then headed upstairs.

Maybe things would have been easier if it was just Changbin. In Hyunjin’s opinion, Changbin did everything the way he liked. He was a structured person, which Hyunjin loved. He thrived under schedules and rules where everything had its place. He also loved the safe atmosphere Changbin had created between the two of them. He never tried to touch Hyunjin or force anything on him.

The real problem was Jisung. Hyunjin just couldn’t get along with him. He was unorganized and spontaneous and he never seemed to have a sense of personal boundaries. He even walked in on Hyunjin when he was just out of the shower. Luckily, Hyunjin had been dressed already but it still startled him.

Jisung was also loud and he stayed up late at night doing homework or reading. He thought him and Hyunjin were buddies which they definitely were not.

“You know Minho?” Jisung suddenly asked Hyunjin while he was trying to study at his desk.

“Yes.” Hyunjin replied. Jisung talked about his best friend all the time. Hyunjin had also met him a few times but they weren’t really friends themselves.

“His whole family is coming over tonight so you can meet them all!” Jisung said, putting his hands on Hyunjin’s desk excitedly.

Hyunjin bit his lip but nodded.

He hated meeting new people. They always made him feel awkward and unsure what to do with himself.

He hid in his room when they first arrived. It wouldn’t do anything but delay the inevitable yet he did it anyways.

“Hyunjin!” Jisung swung open the door with a shout, practically giving Hyunjin a heart attack. “What are you doing? Come down and say hi!”

Hyunjin followed him somewhat unwillingly and joined them in the living room. He knew Minho’s parents were young like Changbin but he was still surprised to see them in person. He greeted each of them at a distance.

They seemed nice enough but he didn’t say much to them after the initial greeting. Changbin and Chan headed outside while Ara went to the kitchen. Hyunjin sat down on the couch. It was actually comfortable that they hadn’t made a big deal out of things. They just came in like they belonged there.

The youngest one came running into the living room with an oversized backpack practically dwarfing him. Hyunjin hadn’t been introduced officially since he had run off immediately when everyone was greeting each other.

“Hi!” The little boy waved at Hyunjin, not waiting for a response before sitting down in front of him and starting to pull toys out of his backpack.

“This is my puppy toy.” He held it up for Hyunjin to see before unceremoniously dropping it on the ground. “I have another one. This one! It’s a brown one.”

Hyunjin felt a smile creep onto his face watching the little boy present each of his toys to Hyunjin even though he hadn’t asked him to or even shown interest.

“This one can be yours.” Hyunjin decided he was kind of cute with his large brown eyes and caramel hair. Usually Hyunjin didn’t interact with kids but he didn’t mind this one.

One of the puppies was extended to Hyunjin with a questioning look. He was asking silently if Hyunjin would play with him.

“What’s your name?” Hyunjin asked, accepting the toy.

“Seungmin.” The boy sat down again. “What’s yours?”

“Hyunjin.” He shifted from the couch to sit on the floor next to him.

He didn’t expect to be playing with a kid but it was better than awkwardly waiting with the adults.

“Hyunmin.” Seungmin nodded and grabbed his own toys.

“Um… Hyunjin.” He repeated.

Seungmin looked up at him and frowned slightly.

“Can you spell it?” He asked.

Hyunjin did as he was told and Seungmin repeated it correctly. Then he raised his hand and formed shapes. Hyunjin had seen a handful of people do that before. He was signing out the sounds.

“Like this!” Seungmin smiled triumphantly. “Want me to show you?”

Hyunjin didn’t get much of a choice as Seungmin crawled closer and grabbed his hand. For a moment, Hyunjin wanted to pull away but it quickly faded. He was just a little kid.

Seungmin moved his fingers in the correct shapes until he was satisfied.

“Thanks for teaching me.” Hyunjin smiled at him.

“You’re welcome!” Seungmin went back to playing.

“Hyunjin!” 

He flinched at the shout, looking up to see Jisung halfway down the stairs.

“Minho brought a new game but it’s more fun with multiple players! Come play!” He said.

“Um, no thank you.” Hyunjin declined politely before blushing. It probably looked strange that he was playing with Seungmin.

“Okay.” Jisung deflated slightly and then perked up again.

Hyunjin stood up and rubbed his hands on his jeans, not sure what to do. They were playing in his room so he couldn’t go there. He ended up heading outside and sitting on the front steps in the cooling evening air.

He rested his arms on his knees and stared off at the trees poking into the sunset glow. He was tired. He had to start going to therapy again since he was in a home. The house was always busy with someone asking him a question or getting in his space. It made him feel exhausted.

“Hi. Can I sit with you for a minute?”

Hyunjin looked up to see Misun standing next to him. He hadn’t even registered her car pulling up since he had been so lost in thought. He nodded and she sat, giving him sufficient space.

Hyunjin thought she was nice. He had met her a few times, mostly when she was at the house. In Hyunjin’s eyes, she didn’t seem like Changbin’s girlfriend. She just seemed like another part of the home.

She cooked dinner sometimes, or came just to watch movies with Changbin on the couch when they were all heading to bed. Her presence was soothing in a way. She didn’t make a commotion; she was just there helping out.

“How was your day today?” She asked, setting her purse on the steps.

“It was okay.” Hyunjin answered softly. “How was yours?”

“Just fine!” She smiled and nodded.

They were quiet for a bit. Hyunjin liked that she could be quiet and calm. He rested his chin on his arms and watched the tree across the street sway slightly in the breeze.

“If you could rate your mood in a color of the sunset, what would it be?” She asked.

Hyunjin turned his head to look at her, surprised by the question.

“It was a random thought.” She laughed lightly. “For me my day was kinda red. It was busy and full of lots of things but calm at the end.”

Hyunjin contemplated her words. He liked to think of things that way. Of emotions have a different life or vibrancy than just the one word to describe them.

“I’m orange.” Hyunjin said after thinking carefully. “I feel… muted. Like I’m on the background for the brighter colors. I like it though.”

“Mm…” Misun nodded and looked over at him.

She reached over and gently put her hand over his, uncurling his fingers from tightly clenching. He hadn’t even realized his fingertips digging into the soft skin of his palm He tended to unconsciously relieve his anxiety in small ways.

Misun was one of the few people who touched him without asking first. He trusted her so he didn’t mind it. She was always gentle and never excessive in her contact with him.

“Hyunjin- oh, I didn’t know you were here.” Changbin joined them on the step, coming from the house.

“I just got here.” Misun stood up and hugged Changbin, Hyunjin looking away.

“Dinner is ready, are you two hungry?” Changbin’s voice was warm and Hyunjin felt a wave of guilt for hating to have to hear it.

“Let’s eat! I’m starving!” Misun slipped her hand around Changbin’s elbow and Hyunjin followed them inside, leaving the last rays of orange sunset behind.

Hyunjin wished he could stick to a muted orange in the background all the time, but some days, he felt like the universe was crumpling in on him. He hated being at the center of anything.

He was just trying to study to keep his mind off of the impending visit with his mom on the weekend. As was far too common, he was distracted by Jisung. His stomach felt slightly queasy and he felt nervous even though nothing was happening. It was making it harder to tune out Jisung talking excitedly to Changbin about something in the kitchen.

He should move somewhere quieter. The thought revolved around his head but he didn’t get up. He just stared down at his book with his head in his hands. He had an exam on Monday which meant he really needed to study.

“Hyunjin.” Changbin broke him out of his daze. “I’m going to make lemonade. Will you help me get the lemons from the fridge in the garage?”

Hyunjin nodded numbly. He was probably just trying to give him a break since he had been sitting at the table for over an hour. He gathered lemons into his arms mutely, his chest feeling oddly tight.

“Would you like to help us make the lemonade?” Changbin asked, tucking a lemon into his arms.

Hyunjin opened his mouth but the air suddenly felt too heavy and coherent thought seemed to have left him. Changbin was expecting him to say yes, wasn’t he? But he needed to study. He was already falling behind.

“Are you okay?” Changbin asked, looking at him closely.

“I- I-.” Hyunjin stammered out and then stepped backwards to give a little space he suddenly felt he needed. A lemon fell from his arms and hit the ground.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered, bending down to pick it up.

His hand shook when he reached for it and Changbin surely noticed.

“Are you not feeling well?” He asked.

Was he? His chest felt even tighter and it was so hard to breathe in the garage. He didn’t have time to worry about if he was sick because he had a test and he had to meet his mom and there were so many things he had to do.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Changbin carefully set down the fruit he was holding in a bin next to the fridge. “Take a deep breath.”

Hyunjin stepped forward and stumbled. Changbin’s hand automatically grabbed his arm, steadying him. He was touching him, holding him. It was too tight, he needed to get away.

Hyunjin’s breaths were coming faster and his chest ached. His arms felt weak and his fingers trembled. He was going to drop the lemons. He did and they rolled across the floor making him feel even more afraid for some reason. 

They would get dirty and Changbin would be angry. He would kick him out and he would be on the streets. If he failed his exam, he would be kicked out of school too and there would be nowhere for him to go. Or worse, Changbin’s grip would tighten and he would hurt him.

“Sit down Hyunjin.” Changbin was hovering in front of him without touching him any longer after making sure he could stand on his own. 

He couldn’t hear past his own harsh breaths in his ears. He didn’t think he could stay standing so he sunk down, his back hitting the wall. His chest felt like it had concrete adding pressure to it and he dragged in a strangled breath trying to fight it.

“You’re okay.” Changbin knelt down in front of him, watching him carefully. “Focus on breathing. It will pass sweetheart.”

He couldn’t breathe and it was making him desperate, his hands curling on the floor, trying to ground himself. He was terrified of all of the things weighing on him. They wouldn’t leave his mind.

“What’s taking so…” Jisung opened the door but trailed off when he noticed Hyunjin.

“Don’t focus on your thoughts.” Changbin held his hand up to Jisung without breaking eye contact with Hyunjin. “Focus on something else.”

Pain blossomed in his hands as he clenched his fingers tighter until his nails dug into his skin. He dropped his head, feeling entirely overwhelmed.

“Hey, look at me Hyunjin.” Changbin tapped his fingers on the floor to get his attention without touching him. “Breathe with me.”

Hyunjin forced himself to try to slow down and breathe along with Changbin. It was hard and his eyes watered at how tight his chest felt, but slowly the tension released and his breathing began to even out.

“You’re doing great Hyunjin.” Changbin guided him through it. “You’re okay.”

Hyunjin finally had enough control to stretch out his fingers and take a long breath.

“You had an anxiety attack sweetheart.” Changbin said. Hyunjin noticed he was speaking in the gentle tone he used when Jisung was upset. “Have you ever had one before?”

He slowly shook his head. He didn’t know what was happening, it just felt like all of his fears became ten times scarier and hit him all at once. His body had reacted physically as well.

“It’s okay. You’re fine now and it’s over.” Changbin shifted a bit, surely uncomfortable from sitting on the hard floor. “You were so brave.”

Hyunjin looked up at him shyly. He had never had someone call him brave before. He didn’t feel brave in the moment, but his words had him relax a little more.

“Take your time.” Changbin said gently. “We’ll go inside when you feel ready.”

“W-what’s wrong with me?” Hyunjin whispered, genuinely concerned.

“There’s nothing wrong with you.” Changbin smiled comfortingly at him. “You were feeling stressed right? And it felt like too much?”

Hyunjin nodded his agreement.

“It was an anxiety attack and it lasted for ten minutes.” Changbin explained. “It was probably triggered by how anxious you’ve been feeling. Am I right?”

He was right. Even though Hyunjin hadn’t been vocal about how he was feeling, Changbin seemed to be able to perceive it anyways.

Hyunjin stood up slowly, feeling self-conscious. Changbin stood with him but still gave him space. In the moment, Hyunjin wanted to recede into his own safe bubble. He had moments of feeling lost or scared or anxious but never such a physical reaction before.

“I’m going to lay down. I-in my room.” Hyunjin said.

“That’s a good idea.” Changbin nodded.

First, Hyunjin crouched down and picked up one of the lemons that had escaped from his arms and then another.

“I can take care of it.” Changbin said. “Go inside and rest.”

Hyunjin nodded shyly and handed him what he had collected. 

The atmosphere in the house felt tense when he went inside. Jisung looked at him when he came into the kitchen. He avoided his gaze and went upstairs.

For a little while, he didn’t want to think of anything. He just wanted to sleep and not worry about what would happen in the morning.

There was a soft knock on his door not too long after and he rolled over, expecting to see Jisung. Instead, Changbin came in.

“I brought these up for you.” Changbin placed a small roll of gauze and disinfectant cream on his nightstand.

Hyunjin nodded and he left without adding anything more. Yet again, he surprised Hyunjin with how perceptive and attentive he was. Yet, he didn’t invade his space even when he noticed something negative. He let Hyunjin feel supported from the outside as he dealt with it.

He examined his palms. He hadn’t really noticed the shallow cuts he had given himself. He didn’t mean to; it was just an accident. He cleaned them and then lay on his side, facing the wall so he could pretend to be asleep when Jisung came in.

Turns out, he didn’t have to pretend, because he fell asleep quickly, exhausted by the day.

School was most exhausting for Hyunjin. He had chosen to take advanced classes that semester and it required a lot of time and energy. Not to mention, school was devoid of friends for him. He didn’t particularly want to initiate himself into any groups surrounding him.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want friends. It just felt too daunting.

He sat on the steps leading out to the school’s courtyard. No one bothered him while he ate and not many people sat around him. Though it was tiring at some times to always be alone.

When Jisung approached him one day, he was sure it was to tell him that something was wrong. He froze up, sitting still, with his sandwich still in his hands.

“Hey.” Jisung greeted him with his hands shoved in his pockets. He was always calm and exuded and air of confidence.

“Hi.” Hyunjin replied.

“Do you always eat lunch here?” Jisung asked, looking around.

Hyunjin nodded and set his food down.

“My friends and I are under those trees.” Jisung pointed to a shady area where there were about three of four students sitting on the grass. “Why don’t you come join us.”

Hyunjin was surprised. He hadn’t really interacted with Jisung much even though they lived in the same house. He wasn’t sure why he would invite him over. Unless he was just trying to be nice. Hyunjin could live with that.

“Okay.” He agreed, grabbing his things and standing up.

He was feeling strangely confident today to try something new. It couldn’t be that bad right?

It wasn’t bad at all. Jisung’s friends were just like him. They were a small group but were fun, generally calm and pretty nice. It wasn’t bad to sit with them even though he didn’t talk much. He felt included anyways.

At home, he actually talked to Changbin. At first, he was only comfortable asking or mentioning small things, but soon he begun to talk more openly. When Changbin asked how school was, they would share something that happened with their friends. 

He liked Changbin and got along well with him, even if he was still reserved in some ways. He trusted Changbin a bit more and more every day.

The morning of one of his big tests, he just didn’t feel right. He was so anxious his stomach ached and he felt nauseous. He tried to force himself not to give in to the butterflies in his chest and focused on making it through the day until his test, which was the last period.

He only made it halfway through the morning before he was in the bathroom, leaning over the sink. Luckily, he hadn’t eaten much for breakfast. A student went to get a teacher which led to Hyunjin feeling even more terrible now that an adult was involved.

When the teacher asked for his parents’ phone number, which would be Changbin as his guardian, he realized he didn’t know it. He asked for them to call someone else instead.

Jisung arrived a few minutes later. Probably called from a class but he didn’t seem angry about it. Hyunjin wanted to explain the situation to him but he hung his head over the sink again as his body decided it wasn’t ready for the test later that day.

Jisung didn’t just stand there passively. He stood next to Hyunjin and rested his hand on his back. It wasn’t much but Hyunjin appreciated the touch. He was glad Jisung had been brave enough to go for it and touch him. He needed a comforting touch more than anything at the moment.

“Can I call Changbin?” Jisung asked him.

Hyunjin shook his head.

“I h-have a test… later.” He replied.

“You’re obviously not well.” Jisung pointed out. “You should go home. Your teacher will understand.”

“I’ll fall behind.” Hyunjin shivered slightly, suddenly feeling cold.

“Take care of yourself first!” Jisung patted his back. “You’ll be fine, trust me.”

He let him call Changbin. He sat and waited for him with Jisung on the steps since he felt cold and craved the sun’s warmth. There was a trashcan nearby, but he didn’t feel like he would need it anymore. He just felt tired and lightly queasy.

“Jisung?” Hyunjin asked, pressing his hands together nervously.

“Yeah?” He turned his head to look at him.

“Can you… just…” Hyunjin looked away, suddenly embarrassed that he would even think to ask.

Jisung didn’t say anything but a minute later, gently touched his back, rubbing slow circles. When Changbin picked him up, Hyunjin didn’t say anything to Jisung. He wasn’t sure how to thank him.

“Alright… I have water and some crackers.” Changbin set a glass and packet of crackers down on the coffee table next to where Hyunjin was laying on the couch.

Hyunjin was still tired and his body felt strange but relaxing on the couch was much better than suffering through school. Changbin made sure he had a blanket tucked around him and his back supported by pillows.

“Do you want me to get you anything else?” Changbin asked. “Maybe an extra pillow?”

“I’m okay.” Hyunjin shook his head. “But… thank you.”

He hated people having to care for him. For some reason, he didn’t hate Changbin taking care of him. He attended to his needs and didn’t hover, letting him rest in peace. He would check on Hyunjin every so often, but it wasn’t bothersome.

Strangely enough, Hyunjin waited for him to come into the room. He was craving the closeness. He just wanted to know someone was there for him.

He fell asleep at some point and woke up to a familiar smell. He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

“Hey you.” A voice gently called to him.

He glanced over to see Misun enter the living room. She had probably picked Jisung up from school and came for dinner.

“How are you feeling?” She asked.

“Better.” Hyunjin took a sip of water and then put his hands in his lap.

“The others are eating fried chicken on the outdoor patio. I was just making sure you have what you need.” She leaned over the back of the couch and smiled at him. “Feeling up to eating with us, or do you want to stick to simple food for now?”

“Simple.” He answered after thinking for a moment.

“If you need anything just call for us, okay?” Misun touched his hair gently before going out of the room.

He smiled softly. He had never had people reach out to him to make sure he was okay. It was nice to feel cared for and missed. It made him feel warm inside. He didn’t feel muted or in the background. He felt appreciated for who he was.

Maybe not everything was so bad about living there. In many ways, it could be good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! We are introduced to a new character and POV! This chapter is still an awful lot of setup so just bear with me! Hyunjin has a bit of a distressing background that hasn’t been explicitly stated yet so I hope you can be gracious towards his behavior in the next two chapters! Do you guys think Jisung and Hyunjin will be close throughout the rest of the story? We’ll see! See you next chapter!


	4. Jisung

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes! Sorry this chapter was late! I haven’t been feeling well and I got no sleep yesterday so I was trying to edit this morning during my normal posting time! Sorry if there are mistakes! Puppy love this chapter uwu cuz I was feeling soft! ^^

Jisung wouldn’t say he was a sensitive person. Changbin always said he was, especially when he got angry about his teasing. But if Jisung was sensitive about anything, it was being left behind. It was an irrational fear, since he knew Changbin had adopted him for good, but it still popped up sometimes.

Maybe it was caused by his father. Whatever its cause, Jisung couldn’t escape it and he hated it. Even simple things like when Changbin was late to pick him up made him nervous. He didn’t say anything though. No one could know his secret fear.

“Can we go?” Jisung whined, not caring that Changbin was talking on the phone.

He was ignored. Changbin had more important things to worry about than his boredom apparently. But they had been at his work for literal hours and Jisung was tired. He also hated the feeling of the place. It reminded him of going there before he was adopted and was still in foster care.

He was only there because Changbin had something urgent that had come up and he didn’t have time to drop Jisung off at school. So he sat in Changbin’s office, totally bored.

He sighed loudly and stood up, moving things aside on Changbin’s desk to find what he was looking for. When he grabbed it, Changbin caught his arm, still on the phone.

“Uh-huh…” He said but gave Jisung a warning look. 

“I won’t lose them!” Jisung said, retracting his hand once Changbin released it. He held the container of rubber bands in his lap and pulled a few out.

They weren’t all that fun so he tired quickly. Then he had an idea.

He stretched a rubber band between his two fingers and let it snap off. Changbin turned his attention to him and shook his head with a frown. He wasn’t supposed to do that.

That’s what made it more fun as Jisung tried to aim them into his trash can quietly. Changbin caught on quickly and snapped his fingers at him to tell him to knock it off. Changbin tried to hide a smile and resumed his game a minute later.

“Can you hold on one moment?” Changbin asked the person on the phone as he was hit with a stray rubber band. “Jisung, if you don’t stop that right now, you’ll be in big trouble.”

“I can’t help it! I’ve been here forever with nothing to do!” Jisung complained and slumped down in his seat.

“I don’t have time to entertain you.” Changbin replied. “I’m extremely busy right now and you’re being distracting.”

Jisung continued cautiously a while later and Changbin sighed lightly and ignored him. When that became no fun, he tried to organize Changbin’s desk which almost started a catastrophe. Apparently, his files were in an order. Jisung didn’t even have time to talk to Changbin when he ended one phone call and started another.

“Finally!” Jisung cheered when Changbin finished his call. “Let’s go home!”

“That was really not appropriate, Jisung.” Changbin said with his voice lacking its usual warmth. “We’re not going until you clean up the mess you made.”

Jisung gaped at the unfairness of the whole situation and then glared at Changbin. He moved to pick them up but he purposely spent a long time grabbing each one. Now that Changbin was ready to go, he wanted to make him wait.

“Come on Jisung.” Changbin stood waiting for him. “I thought you wanted to go home quickly.”

“This is very important to clean up.” Jisung said, copying Changbin’s authoritative tone. “You’re distracting me.”

“Don’t be sassy with me.” Changbin frowned at his voice.

“I’m almost done, just wait.” Jisung pushed the limits.

Changbin held his tongue, making Jisung feel a little triumphant. He finished collecting all the rubber bands and put them in their container.

“Alright, let’s go.” Changbin nodded.

“Hold on.” Jisung crouched and purposely untied his shoes just to tie them again. It was petty and Changbin would know what he was trying to do but he did it anyways.

“Are you serious?” Changbin asked. “Do you want me to just leave you here then?”

It was a splash of cold water to Jisung. He yanked his laces together and stood up, suddenly terrified Changbin would leave. He was angry and Jisung had pushed his limits. He couldn’t actually leave him, there could he?

“Come on.” Changbin motioned and started walking away.

Jisung was dead silent, quickening his pace to keep up with him. Was Changbin getting tired of him? Was he angry at him like his dad had been?

He reached up reflexively and held the fold of Changbin’s coat which he had draped over his arm. 

“What are you doing?” Changbin pulled his jacket away, looking at Jisung’s empty hand suspiciously. 

Jisung didn’t answer, his heart starting to beat faster.

Changbin made eye contact with him and his expression turned confused and then gentle again. Jisung stared back at him worriedly.

“That wasn’t nice of me.” Changbin said apologetically. “I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sorry.”

Jisung bit his lip, body still tensed as if Changbin would make a break for it.

“I shouldn’t have made you wait that long.” Changbin ran his hand over his face tiredly.

“It’s okay.” Jisung replied. “Just… please don’t leave me here.”

Changbin stared at him for a moment and then he reached forward and put his arm around Jisung’s shoulders.

“Oh sweetheart, I won’t leave you here! What makes you think…” He remembered what he had said and groaned. “I didn’t mean that Ji! It was a terrible thing to say. I wasn’t thinking.”

Jisung cautiously put his arm around Changbin’s waist to keep him close.

“I messed up a lot Jisung. Can you forgive me?” He asked. “I shouldn’t have responded like that.”

Jisung nodded and glanced up to see his face was sincere and regretful.

“Let’s go home.” Changbin rubbed his arm comfortingly. “It’s movie night remember? I’ll let you pick the movie as my apology.”

“Okay. I’m sorry too.” Jisung smiled.

Jisung knew Changbin didn’t mean to hurt him. He rarely got angry and rarely let his emotions get out of control. When they did, he always apologized. Jisung forgave him every time. 

There was still one insecurity he couldn’t shake though. His insecurity sat with his legs tucked up under him on the couch. He had arrived just a few months ago. He was always just barely brushing against the sensitive area of his heart.

“Can you hand me a blanket?” Jisung blinked when Hyunjin extended his hand to him.

“Here you go.” Changbin reached past Jisung and handed it over.

Jisung snuggled closer into Changbin’s side, trying to ignore Hyunjin’s presence next to them.

He didn’t hate Hyunjin or resent him for being there. There was just something about him that made Jisung uncomfortable. He was hard to get through to and it made Jisung uneasy.

It was a Wednesday night when Jisung made a big mistake. He was walking into his room while playing a game on his phone without paying much attention. He was brought back to reality by something crunching under his foot.

When he looked down, his heart sank. Hyunjin’s science project was sitting on the floor. It was the one he had worked on for a whole week in advance. Jisung had just crushed one of the parts of the delicate model without realizing it was there.

“Oh shoot…” Jisung whispered, throwing his phone on his bed and crouching down to inspect the damage.

It didn’t look good. The damaged section was the section with the most identifying pieces. Jisung didn’t know how to reassemble it, or if he even could reassemble it. He bit his thumb, mildly panicking.

He had never seen Hyunjin mad, but he was a very stoic person. It seemed like he would be very angry or harsh when mad. It made him unwilling to do what he knew he should do. Instead, he grabbed his phone and acted as if nothing had happened.

Out of all the scenarios, he couldn’t predict what Hyunjin did or how he reacted. When he came downstairs and set his model on the table, Jisung wanted to hide.

“I was wondering if… you could help me fix this.” Hyunjin extended his hand to Changbin, one of the pieces that had broken off lay in his palm.

“What happened?” Changbin took a closer look and frowned.

“It got broken… somehow.” Hyunjin replied.

Jisung tried to sink further into the couch cushions, pretending to be very invested in his phone which had technically gotten him into this mess in the first place.

“Yikes… we’re going to need glue.” Changbin sat down and pulled the model closer to him. “Did something fall on it?”

“I don’t know. When I came in the room it was like that.” Hyunjin said softly.

Jisung felt like his ears were burning. His mouth felt dry and he begged himself to hold it together and not give himself away.

“It is a little bit bent…” Changbin observed it closely. “I can fix that part though.”

“It was sitting on the floor so it could dry.” Hyunjin said. “Some pieces were still wet so they dried in a weird position.”

Hyunjin headed upstairs to get glue and Changbin turned to look at Jisung. He knew Changbin would ask him but he pretended not to be paying attention.

“Hey Jisung. Do you know how this got broken?” Changbin asked.

“No.” Jisung answered simply without looking at him. He felt sick to his stomach.

“It’s just strange it’s bent like this…” Changbin commented.

When Hyunjin came back, Jisung looked up and accidentally made eye contact with him. His heart sank even lower at his look. He had to know.

He tossed and turned in bed, trying not to think about Changbin and Hyunjin downstairs, working late to get the project fixed since it was due tomorrow. The more he thought about it, the more he wished he hadn’t lied. It made him feel awful.

When Hyunjin finally came to bed, he seemed to take a long time to get ready in the dim room. Jisung was so guilty.

“Jisung?” Hyunjin whispered.

“Yeah?” He answered hesitantly.

“Why did you break my model?” Hyunjin asked.

Jisung winced, glad Hyunjin couldn’t see him. His heart started beating fast and he felt shaky. He hadn’t done it on purpose. Why wasn’t he honest in the first place?

“I didn’t break it.” He answered quietly.

Hyunjin was silent for a few moments.

“If you broke it then why didn’t you help me fix it?” Hyunjin said, his voice a bit colder.

Jisung opened his mouth but he didn’t know what to say. Hyunjin knew the truth. He didn’t know why he hadn’t helped them fix it. He had sat there on the couch on his phone while they worked to fix his mistake.

“I didn’t break it.” He whispered softly, but it felt like sealing his fate. He couldn’t sleep that night and, in the morning, he wasn’t feeling up to eating either after seeing the fixed model on the table.

He had made mistakes or even purposely done bad things plenty of times, but he had never kept a lie about it before. He was sure it was the worst feeling in the world. It didn’t really fade away.

He got a little distraction later that evening while they held a mini celebration for Misun getting a publishing company for her book that she had been working hard on. She swore she couldn’t have done it without Changbin but Jisung knew Changbin believed Misun could do literally anything.

“How many times am I in your book?” Jisung leaned over the table and asked her.

“You’re basically the main character… of chapter five.” She teased.

Jisung wasn’t really named in her book, but she included some examples about him from her research she had done with Changbin.

Jisung laughed, feeling happy and light again.

“Let’s do cheers!” He suggested. 

He raised his glass of grape juice. Hyunjin had the same while Changbin and Misun had wine. He dramatically knocked his cup against everyone except Hyunjin, who pulled away first.

“When you’re rich and famous, give me lots of your autograph.” Jisung told Misun.

“Why?” Changbin laughed. “You only need one.”

“So I can sell them and be rich too!” Jisung rolled his eyes as if it was obvious.

“Oh you…” Changbin shook his head and rumpled his hair. “You’re cleaning the table tonight.”

Jisung made sure to grumble a lot about clearing the table just to get Changbin to laugh and pretend to tickle him. Misun and him went to the living room, probably to sit together and hold hands and talk all quiet like they did sometimes. Changbin would sometimes sneak kisses right in front of Jisung. He would rather be in the kitchen.

“Bring me your plate.” Jisung told Hyunjin, forgetting he should be careful around him.

Hyunjin did as he was told, also bringing the glasses. Jisung took them from his arms hurriedly, trying to get the dishes done fast.

“Here’s the last one.” Hyunjin handed him the last glass and Jisung maybe grabbed it a little too unsteadily. 

It slipped but didn’t hit the ground. He grabbed it before it could fall but it already inflicted damage. A grape juice stain soaked into the front of Hyunjin’s shirt.

“Why did you hand it to me so fast?” Jisung said and he meant to not say anything at all, but the words slipped out. And they sounded accusatory even if they weren’t meant to be.

Hyunjin stared down at his shirt for long enough to make Jisung uncomfortable.

“It stains so you better take care of it.” He said awkwardly.

“Why…” Hyunjin spoke slowly. “Why are you always ruining my things?”

Jisung stood frozen, staring back at him directly now.

“Is it because of me? Or are you just that clueless.” Hyunjin eyes looked angry and they scared Jisung.

“I’m tired of you pretending like nothing you do is your fault.” Hyunjin slowly raised his voice. “You keep messing up my things! And you won’t even take responsibility!”

“I-I-.” Jisung stammered.

“You don’t even care!” Hyunjin snapped. “Well I do! I had to work on that project for hours last night! You didn’t even help!”

“What’s going on in here?” Changbin came into the kitchen at the noise.

“He broke my model! And poured grape juice on me!” Hyunjin pointed to himself. Jisung stood frozen in shock, feeling small under Changbin’s gaze.

“He burned out my desk light because he was always using it even though he has his own.” Hyunjin continued. “He uses all the towels in the bathroom and doesn’t replace them. And he never apologizes for when he wakes me up so early in the morning with how loud he is!”

Jisung was stunned to hear all of the crimes Hyunjin held against him. He hadn’t really thought of them until now. He was sure Hyunjin could go on and on now that he thought about it.

“Okay, hold on.” Changbin tried to slow him down. “It seems like you have some… problems with Jisung.”

“My biggest problem is he lied about the project that he broke.” Hyunjin clenched his hands into fists and glared at Jisung. 

“I didn’t break it!” Jisung cried. 

It was strange that once you told a lie, you felt compelled to stick to it until the bitter end. Jisung supposed he would have to die with his secret at this point.

“You’re the only one who could have!” Hyunjin gestured at him. “You even act guilty!”

“Did you break it?” Changbin asked Jisung.

He eyes seemed to stare into Jisung’s soul and he suddenly felt like he lost control over his words.

“I didn’t know it was broken until you told me a-and I wasn’t in the room all day!” It was another lie. “It probably broke from falling off of the desk! O-or your backpack or something!”

“You’re so terrible.” Hyunjin said with a chilling tone. “I wish I didn’t have to live with you.”

“Hyunjin- Hyunjin wait.” Changbin called after him as he strode angrily out of the kitchen, leaving Jisung to feel the weight of his words.

He stood in silence for a few moments. His words hurt because Jisung knew they were true. Hyunjin really did think he was terrible because of how he had lied and not cared for his things. Jisung wouldn’t want to live with himself either in the moment.

“Jisung.” Changbin caught his attention again, watching him closely.

It was all he had to say to have Jisung finally breaking down. His last straw of confidence crumpled and he pressed his hands against his face as he started to cry.

“Okay baby.” Changbin said tenderly as he pulled him into a hug. He only called Jisung baby when he was having a really hard time. He recognized Jisung was hitting rock bottom in the situation.

“It was an accident!” Jisung sobbed, exposing the truth willingly now.

“I know it was.” Changbin stroked his hair. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“I was s-scared.” Jisung answered, pressing his face to Changbin’s chest and wrapping his arms back around him.

“I think he would have forgiven you.” Changbin told him. “You have to be honest, bud.”

“I know, I just… I didn’t want to say it after it happened.” Jisung sniffled. “I wish I had told the truth.

Changbin let him cry his emotions out for a little bit before speaking again.

“You can still fix the most important thing.” Changbin said.

“What?” Jisung hugged him a little tighter.

“What does he want most of all?” Changbin asked. “What’s the right thing to do?”

“A-Apologize.” Jisung whispered.

“You’re right.” Changbin patted his back. “It’s hard, but you can do it.”

“I don’t want to.” Jisung pulled back to look at Changbin with puppy eyes.

It wasn’t that he didn’t think he should apologize. He didn’t want Hyunjin to get angrier at him.

“Jisung.” Changbin gave him a borderline stern look. “He deserves an apology, right?”

Jisung nodded. It was torture to drag his feet to his room where Hyunjin was, but he finally accomplished the feat. He stood for a long time in front of the closed door, wiping away traces of his tears.

When he came in, Hyunjin had changed his shirt and was laying on his bed with his back to him.

“I wanted to say… I’m sorry.” Jisung said awkwardly.

His words hung in the air without a response. Maybe he needed to say more.

“I didn’t mean to break your model. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the other things too.” He was met with more silence.

“Can you forgive me?” He finally asked, his chest tight with nervousness.

“Yes.” Hyunjin whispered softly.

Jisung waited for more. He wasn’t sure for what, but it never came. At least Hyunjin had accepted his apology. And the guilt of hiding his secret was off of his shoulders.

It was the first time he had made Hyunjin angry and he had hoped it was the last. But that wasn’t the case unfortunately.

The second time Jisung made Hyunjin angry was when he was talking to Minho on the phone one night. He had his feet up against the wall with socks on that he swayed side to side as he talked. Hyunjin was sitting at his desk, probably studying again like he always did.

“Can you… be a little quieter.” Hyunjin mumbled from where he was sitting.

Jisung pretended not to hear him. He laughed loudly at something Minho said.

It went on for fifteen minutes until Hyunjin turned in his chair and fixed Jisung with a glare.

“Can you just shut up?!” He snapped.

It made Jisung falter, his smile fading. Briefly he remembered his father snapping at him in the same way a few years ago. It still felt as bad as it did back then.

“Can’t you go somewhere else?” Jisung asked, feeling hurt.

“Why don’t you go somewhere else?” Hyunjin shot right back at him. “You’re always so annoyingly loud.”

He turned around to study again but Jisung sat up on his knees. He felt hurt so he responded in anger like was his bad habit.

“This is my room! I can tell you to get out if I want to!” He challenged.

He felt a little bad saying it. It really was mean. But Hyunjin had been mean too so now they were even.

“Whatever.” Hyunjin huffed, making Jisung feel like he lost.

It was honestly tense when Hyunjin was around. Jisung would either purposely be louder and more dramatic than usual around him, or silent. It was a strange dynamic. Jisung was jealous of Changbin because whenever Hyunjin was with him he seemed nice and sweet. Sometimes seeing them together made Jisung want to run over and join them but he felt he had to uphold his pride.

On Saturday, Changbin took Jisung to the store. It was just a simple grocery run but it was nice to have time with Changbin alone with no distraction.

“You seem awfully quiet.” Changbin commented as they drove.

“Just thinking I guess.” Jisung shrugged. He didn’t want to talk too much.

“I had a thought that I wanted to run by you.” Changbin said. “It’s not for certain yet! But I’ve thought about it and thought it might be nice.”

“What is it?” Jisung’s interest was piqued.

“Misun is babysitting her friend’s dog and three puppies. The family is moving to a smaller house but that means they need homes for the puppies they can’t keep.” Changbin explained.

“Can we adopt one?” Jisung sat up straight in his seat, already seeing where things were heading.

“Hold on!” Changbin laughed. “I thought about it and it might be good to have a new family member, yeah? I think it’s a good responsibility and you boys can learn how to take care of a pet.”

“Yes!” Jisung snapped his fingers. “Let’s do it.”

“It’s harder than it sounds.” Changbin warned him. “We can’t just take one home. The house has to go through puppy proofing first. We have to learn how to train the puppy too.”

“I can do it!” Jisung assured him. “I’ll work really hard!”

“For now, it’s a secret.” Changbin smiled. “We’ll think about it together.”

Jisung had already made up his mind but he knew Changbin liked to go through a process and makes sure he was really being responsible.

“I have to drop something off at Misun’s house.” Changbin told him once they were done at the store. “We can see the puppies.”

Jisung was beyond excited. He barely even greeted Misun before heading to the living room and sitting down to greet the roly poly puppies. Two of them were energetic and jumped all over Jisung as soon as he sat down. The third one shyly approached him and then sat a little distance away.

“Maybe this was a bad idea.” He heard v whisper to Misun. “He’ll get attached.”

“I still think it’s a great idea.” She said back. “Worst comes to worst you can give the puppy back to me and I can find it a new home.”

Jisung lifted one into his arms and pressed his face against its little black head. The puppies’ fur was so soft and they were warm and snuggly. There was no way Changbin could change his mind if he held them.

They were black Labradors which means they would get pretty big, but for now they were small, with soft floppy ears and small noses.

Jisung laughed as one tried to lick his face. Changbin crouched down and pet one, letting it nibble on his finger a little.

“They’re convincing me themselves.” Changbin joked.

“Can we please get this one!” Jisung held up the one he was holding.

“Remember, we can’t bring a puppy home without being prepared.” Changbin reminded him.

They had to leave the puppies without making a decision. Jisung tried to convince v the whole way home, or at least get him to officially say yes, but he stood firm. Jisung was forced to stop talking about them when they got home so Hyunjin didn’t find out yet.

Jisung managed not to think about them so much until Changbin came home Saturday holding a little black puppy in his arms.

“You got one!” Jisung shot up from the kitchen table and ran to him, quickly taking the puppy into his arms.

“The last one.” Changbin smiled. “It’s the only girl one too.”

“What about the house though?” Jisung asked.

“I have all of the supplies in the car.” Changbin replied. “I’ll go get them in a minute.”

“Woah! Whose puppy is that?” Hyunjin appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

“It’s mine!” Jisung turned to show Hyunjin.

“It’s actually all of ours.” Changbin corrected. “Surprise!”

“Really?” Hyunjin took the puppy into his arms. “No way!”

“I thought you guys deserved a pet and you can learn a lot about how to care for her and raise her.” Changbin smiled and pet her soft head.

“What’s her name?” Hyunjin asked.

“Jisung gets to name her.” Changbin patted his shoulder. “You two should decide on one together.”

Changbin sat the puppy on the living room carpet. She began to explore the room, her tail wagging excitedly.

“We have to walk her every day, and feed her, and play with her.” Jisung sat down next to her and kept petting her as she explored around him.

“You have to name her first.” Hyunjin pointed out.

“I already thought of her name.” Jisung replied. “Her name is Daisy.”

“But she’s not white. Daisies are white flowers.” Hyunjin frowned.

“So what?” Jisung stuck his tongue out at him. “She’s definitely a Daisy.”

“It’s not bad. I like it.” Hyunjin nodded. “Daisy it is.”

The joy of having a puppy didn’t wear off quickly, but reality definitely set in at lightning speed. Changbin had to buy her teething toys to keep her from nibbling on the furniture legs or people’s fingers. She luckily was trained to go to the bathroom outside but she already had two accidents. 

She was still a good puppy. Pretty quiet and she loved to cuddle. She gravitated towards Changbin most, preferring to sit on his lap while he was working most of the time.

Jisung took her out for walks daily and Hyunjin was in charge of feeding schedule. She would follow him around and slept at the foot of his bed every night. They eventually moved her bed to rest at the end of his bed.

Changbin, Misun and Jisung took Daisy out for a walk one weekend to get out of the house for a little bit. Jisung walked ahead of Changbin and Misun. Every day they seemed closer and closer. Jisung had started to wonder if one day soon, she would be a part of their family.

“You can let her off of her leash for a little bit Jisung.” Changbin said once they were in the center of the park.

Daisy never wandered too far away from them so they had started letting her run around without her leash. Jisung unclasped it from her collar and let her run off.

“She’s growing already.” Misun observed, as Jisung sat down next to her and Changbin.

“She’s mellowed out a little bit too even though she’s still a puppy.” Changbin commented.

Jisung sat watching her run around, thinking for a minute. He was reminded of how fast time went when he thought about how she had grown so much. He realized he had been with Changbin for a long time now.

It was nice to think about his family in terms of the time they had spent together. He glanced over at Changbin and Misun, their hands interlocked on Changbin’s thigh. He hoped their family could be like it was forever.

Reality always came crashing in at some point. For Jisung, it came in an unexpected way.

When they got home, Hyunjin was on the phone with someone. He motioned Jisung over when they came in the door.

“Someone is on the phone for you.” He extended the phone to Jisung.

“Who is it?” Changbin asked as he shrugged out of his coat.

“I don’t know.” Hyunjin replied. “She just asked if this was Jisung’s house number.”

“Hello?” Jisung tucked the phone against his ear while bending down and unhooking Daisy’s leash.

Words he wasn’t prepared to hear were said to him and his hand dropped her leash. He stood up shakily. No one noticed that something had gone wrong. He was suddenly standing alone, his mind not really processing.

Changbin was looking at him, frowning at him questioningly.

He extended the phone to Changbin wordlessly. He didn’t feel right. Everything seemed detached from reality. Changbin was speaking to the woman and Jisung was just standing there.

Changbin made eye contact with him when it finally sunk in. He reached his hand out and tried to grab Jisung but he only caught his arm as he went down, crashing against the kitchen chair.

“Hyunjin!” Changbin called out but his voice sounded far away to Jisung.

Changbin let the phone fall to the floor, focusing on keeping Jisung sitting upright. His body felt weak and his hands were shaking.

“I need help.” Changbin said to Hyunjin.

“What’s wrong with him?” Hyunjin stared at Jisung in shock.

Jisung’s head hurt and he realized he wasn’t breathing. He was slumped against Changbin, his head pressing heavily against his shoulder.

“I-Is it true?” Jisung whispered, his voice sounding strange to his own ears.

“Take a moment Jisung.” Changbin wrapped his arm around him more securely. “Breathe.”

The more time passed, even though it had all happened in moments, Jisung felt dread wash over him. He felt like he was balancing carefully over a chasm, waiting to swallow him whole.

“No…” Jisung whispered.

“I’m right here.” Changbin ran his hand over his back and it sent him tumbling over the edge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliffhanger! I’ve really been a mess and didn’t tie up all the loose ends perfectly! But we will get final POV day after tomorrow. Can anyone guess who it is? Also, I apologize for a lot of random pieces in the whole story. They will all come together I promise!


	5. Changbin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! My apologies in advance because this chapter is so terrible! I’m rushing to finish certain POV chapters even though the rest has already been written. I also haven’t had anyone edit these chapters for me so I’m sure there are mistakes! This one is mostly fluff and lots of happiness and progress!  
> TW: Mentioned self-harm

Changbin spent hours with Jisung at the hospital. Every moment was tense and Changbin managed a roller coaster of emotions from Jisung. It was an unexpected accident and the memories it brought up were hard for Jisung to process.

Jisung’s father would be okay. He had been driving under the influence and crashed his car, but he wasn’t dead. Changbin had been struck by a hurricane of thoughts when the news was relayed to him.

He just wished he could have answered the phone before Jisung. He wished he could have broken the news slowly. Maybe then Jisung wouldn’t be so distraught. Maybe they could have gotten updates on his father’s condition without having to be at the hospital.

Things hadn’t worked out that way, and Jisung insisted on being there, just in case. Changbin would never deny him that even though he questioned if it was the best thing for him.

Chan and Minho joined them a little later that night. Changbin was grateful for their supportive presence. He felt torn. He didn’t want to leave Hyunjin home but he didn’t want to leave Jisung at the hospital.

Even though Jisung hadn’t seen his father since he was adopted, emergencies like this always brought up complicated emotions and conflicted feelings. Changbin could tell Jisung was struggling through them because he was silent. Ever since he half collapsed at the news.

“How long have you two been here?” Chan asked Changbin softly. Minho and Jisung were sitting a few feet over.

“Five hours now.” Changbin breathed out slowly.

“How did they contact you?” Chan asked.

“I’m not sure exactly. I’m sure they either found my contact on his phone, or looked for contacts of his biological relatives.” Changbin leaned his head back against the wall.

“I’m sorry this happened.” Chan patted his knee. “Hopefully Jisung can see him soon and you can do damage control back at home.”

“Hopefully soon because I have to get back to Hyunjin. He’s with Misun right now.” Changbin rubbed his eyes.

“Changbin.” Chan’s tone of voice changed and when Changbin caught on, his heart sunk.

Jisung’s father had a new family. Changbin had failed to think that of course they would show up. It was complicated and strange to be in the situation they were in and have to deal with multiple variables that would all affect Jisung in ways Changbin would have to navigate through.

The family went in first to see Jisung’s father. Changbin put his arm around Jisung.

“Do you want to see him next?” Changbin asked.

Slowly, Jisung shook his head.

“If he’s okay then… I don’t need to see him.” He said quietly.

“Really?” Changbin asked. He wasn’t sure if Jisung was just intimidated by others being there.

“Yes.” Jisung nodded once. “We can go home now.”

Changbin and Chan exchanged a look. Changbin was confused but he would do whatever Jisung needed in the moment.

“Are you sure?” He double-checked.

Jisung nodding again was his confirmation and he decided their time at the hospital was over. It felt like the day had lasted years. By the time they got home it was late.

“Get some rest.” Changbin hugged Jisung close to him as they walked to the door. “You can sleep in tomorrow morning too.”

“Can I talk to you?” Jisung asked hesitantly.

“Yeah, of course.” Changbin nodded. “Are there some things on your mind?”

“Uh huh.” Jisung confirmed. “I just can’t sleep thinking…”

“Okay. Get ready for bed and we can talk.” Changbin said gently.

Changbin mentally prepared himself for what would surely be an emotional discussion. It was an unexpected situation and Jisung having to be abruptly pulled back into his childhood was surely straining.

“How did it go?” Misun came to his side after Jisung headed upstairs.

“I’m not sure.” Changbin answered honestly. “We didn’t see his father which I think was good. Not sure what he’s thinking though.”

Misun pulled him into a hug which he melted into easily.

“Is Hyunjin in bed?” Changbin asked.

“Mm, he went to bed not too late. Though he wanted to stay up for when you two to came home.” She hummed.

“Hyunjin?” Changbin was slightly surprised.

“They were both really worried.” Changbin rubbed her hand up and down his back.

“Sorry to leave you with them so suddenly.” Changbin breathed out heavily. “Jisung wants to talk to me so I have a while before I can rest. But I can drive you home first.”

“Take care of him first.” Misun pulled back and gently brushed his hair back and tucked it behind his ear. “If you don’t mind me staying a little longer. I’ll stay out of your way.”

“I don’t mind at all.” Changbin smiled down at her. “Thank you.”

She raised on her tiptoes enough to press a gently kiss against his lips. Changbin followed her once she pulled apart and returned the kiss.

When Jisung came downstairs, she went to his office so they could have some space.

“I’m sorry.” Was the first thing Jisung said when they sat down on the couch.

“What are you sorry about?” Changbin hadn’t expected that.

“I’m sorry about the way I acted.” Jisung avoided looking at Changbin.

“You have nothing to be sorry about.” Changbin put his arm around him. “I’m afraid I don’t understand what you’re worried about.”

“I know he’s not my dad anymore. I don’t really know why I got so scared. I just… wanted to make sure he was okay.” Jisung bit his lip. “I don’t know why…”

“That’s perfectly normal.” Changbin picked up on what he was trying to communicate. “Even if he isn’t your legal guardian anymore, you still want to know that he’s alright when something happens.”

Changbin rubbed Jisung’s shoulder with a smile.

“You don’t have to worry about me. I’m glad you wanted to check on him.” He said honestly.

“It makes me nervous.” Jisung admitted.

“How so?” Changbin asked.

“I don’t like thinking that something like that could happen to…you.” Jisung looked up at him and his brown eyes were worried. “What would I do?”

“Nothing’s going to happen to me.” Changbin comforted him. “At least, I don’t plan on anything. The odds are so low Jisung.”

“I know… I just- get scared.” Jisung shrugged.

Changbin smiled fondly down at him. He was glad Jisung was being honest.

“It’s okay.” Changbin affirmed his feelings. “It means you love me enough to be worried, yeah?”

Jisung nodded and lay his head on Changbin’s shoulder.

“I can’t make you less afraid but you can always talk to me if it helps.” Changbin assured him.

“Okay.” Jisung yawned. “When is it going to be just us again?”

That was an odd question and one Changbin wasn’t sure he fully understood.

“What do you mean?” He asked Jisung.

“When is Hyunjin going back?” Jisung clarified. “When is he done living with us?”

“Why would you ask that?” Changbin asked. He was becoming slightly concerned at the way the two boys treated each other.

“I just like it better when it’s us.” Jisung shrugged. “You, me, and Misun too.”

Changbin stared off in thought for a moment. He was definitely concerned now.

“Hyunjin is in the same position you were.” He decided on leading with. “Remember how you needed people to take you in. We are that for Hyunjin.”

“But not like, permanently, right?” Jisung lifted his head to look at him.

“Is him staying here permanently a problem for you?” Changbin frowned.

“Um…” Jisung looked away. “I don’t know. Maybe he doesn’t even like it here. He doesn’t seem to like it.”

“He’s still getting used to things.” Changbin reminded him. “He may like it here.”

“Well I think he doesn’t.” Jisung frowned a little. “He will probably go back with his mom anyways.”

Changbin thought for a moment. He wasn’t sure how to approach this topic so for the moment he let it slide. He would address it as it came up.

“Why don’t you go to bed now.” Changbin patted his arm. “You had a very long day.”

Jisung sat up and stretched. Changbin stood and pulled him into a hug.

“I love you.” Jisung nuzzled his face against him.

“Love you too sweetheart.” Changbin answered.

When Misun rejoined him he put his head in his hands and let out a long breath.

“I don’t know what to do with them.” He voiced his concerns about Hyunjin and Jisung. “I worry that they’ve become real enemies.”

“I wouldn’t take it that far.” Misun patted his back.

“I don’t understand why Jisung is having a hard time with him! He’s such a good kid. He’s so sweet and he hardly ever has issues with people.” Changbin commented.

“He has a tender heart.” Misun said softly.

“Hm?” Changbin raised his head to look at her.

“What you just said.” Misun answered. “There’s nothing wrong with him. He isn’t trying to be difficult. He just has a tender heart.”

Changbin contemplated her words for a moment. She was right.

“He’s trying to balance a lot of emotions right now.” She continued. “He won’t vocalize it but he’s probably overwhelmed and maybe a little hurt too.”

“Hurt by what?” Changbin asked, though he thought he knew the answer.

“Hyunjin coming here upset the balance of the household.” Misun rested her chin on her hand. “It’s only natural Jisung feels insecure in some areas. Especially since Hyunjin’s personality tends to make it hard to relate.”

“I try to share my attention equally.” Changbin said. “I do my best with the time and energy I have. And I try to bring them together as much as possible.”

“I know you do.” Misun gently touched his hand. “Unfortunately you can’t do much to force things back into being normal. They have to work out a balance for themselves.”

“And if they can’t?” Changbin said softly.

“Something tells me they will.” She smiled. “They’re so much alike and they don’t even know it.”

Changbin clung to her words as a source of hope as tensions rose in the household. It slowly escalated to the point where Jisung would accuse Changbin of picking sides or choosing favorites when things didn’t go his way. Hyunjin would imply that Changbin was being unfair if he sided with Jisung. Changbin hated the way a line was clearly being drawn no matter how many times he tried to smudge it out, they drew it again.

“Tell Hyunjin he’s not allowed to touch my things.” Jisung stormed into the kitchen one evening.

Changbin dropped his head into his hands. He couldn’t deal with another argument.

“Try to be understanding.” Changbin all but pleaded with Jisung. “Whatever it is, just exercise a little bit of patience.”

“You don’t even want to hear what it is?” Jisung pointed at him accusingly. “You are just-.”

“Taking his side.” Changbin finished. “No I am not Jisung. I would say the same thing to him so just try to have some grace. Please?”

Jisung huffed and headed somewhere else. Changbin wondered if his words had made any impression.

He had already expected dinner to be tense so he specifically sat between the two to act as a buffer.

“Soup tonight?” Jisung groaned. “We just had soup.”

Changbin bit his lip. Jisung had been an angel other than a few instances the whole week. Now he felt like he was acting particularly defiant to make up for all of the other times.

“If you don’t like it, make a sandwich.” Changbin gave him a different choice.

It all happened pretty quickly as Hyunjin was serving himself. He had kept the pot on the stove to warm it but it was harder to serve from.

“Ah!” Hyunjin jerked away from the stove, his empty bowl clattering back onto the counter. Immediately Changbin was at his side. He shook his left hand in pain.

“Did you burn yourself?” Changbin didn’t wait for an answer to grab his wrist and pull him to the sink. He flipped the water on and put Hyunjin’s hand under the cool stream.

“I accidentally touched the side of the pot as I reached for the spoon.” Hyunjin said.

A portion of the top of his hand was turning pink.

“I’m fine.” Hyunjin said a little shakily. “Just…startled me.”

“It’s already turning red.” Jisung observed, glancing over his shoulder while Changbin tilted Hyunjin’s hand under the water.

Changbin moved him aside and kept a light touch on his wrist with two fingers, bringing it out of the water for a moment to survey the damage. He hadn’t asked permission to touch Hyunjin but that was the last thing on both of their minds.

“Jisung, can you get me the first aid kit please.” Changbin asked. He tried to make Hyunjin feel calmer with his composed response.

“Is it bad?” Hyunjin asked nervously.

“Not at all.” Changbin shook his head and winked at him. “It will definitely hurt but you’re fine. We’ll just keep it under the water to draw the burn out.”

“I’m sorry.” He apologized.

“Don’t apologize!” Changbin replied. “It was just an accident. I should have warned you guys it was still hot.”

Hyunjin stood in front of the sink for about ten minutes until his arm started to get tired.

“Let’s go to the bathroom so I can put a bandage on it.” Changbin said. Jisung handed him the first aid kit as they went.

Hyunjin held his wrist with his other hand and followed Changbin to the bathroom. Changbin had him sit on the counter and Hyunjin managed to boost himself up with one hand. Changbin rifled through the first aid kit and pulled out a tube of burn cream and a sterile gauze bandage.

The area Hyunjin had burned was bright red but it hadn’t blistered. He watched closely as Changbin lay a fluffy clean hand towel across his knees and had had him rest his hand on it.

“Do I have permission to touch you?” Changbin asked.

Hyunjin nodded. He spread Hyunjin’s fingers a little on the towel so his hand would lie flat.

“It will sting for just a minute and then it will feel numb.” Changbin forewarned him as he squeezed some burn cream onto his fingers.

It did hurt a little to have Changbin touch the area but Hyunjin didn’t move, watching him carefully rub cream over the burn. Hyunjin was still as Changbin worked with gentle touches.

He watched him tend to the burn, his eyes flitting from his hands to his face and back again. 

Changbin set the burn cream aside and Hyunjin nodded. It was already soothing the inflamed skin. Changbin now held his hand steady as he wrapped it with a bandage, making sure not to apply too much pressure but make it secure.

“How does that feel?” He asked, stepping back. “Can you move your hand a little?”

Hyunjin moved his fingers, testing his mobility and nodded.

“It feels much better.” He replied.

“Well good thing it isn’t your dominant hand.” Changbin pointed out. “We’ll keep the bandage on overnight and air it out in the morning.”

He took the towel off of Hyunjin’s lap and he hopped off of the counter.

Hyunjin lingered as Changbin put away the items in the first aid kit. He seemed like he wanted to say something so Changbin waited.

He was shocked and a little confused when Hyunjin lightly looped his arm around Changbin’s waist and pressed up against him. It was only for a second, just a brief hug from the side, but it communicated what Hyunjin failed to put in words.

He slipped out of the bathroom immediately afterwards and returned to where Jisung was sitting at the dining room table. Changbin stood still for a solid minute, his thoughts all over the place. Had Hyunjin just… hugged him?

It couldn’t have been random. It was as if Hyunjin was thanking him for taking care of him and wanted to express his trust by doing the one thing he seemed to struggle with most.

He smiled to himself and returned to the dining room. Jisung pushed his chair out for Hyunjin and he nodded in thanks, his bowl already at his place.

“Does it hurt?” Jisung asked.

“It’s fine.” Hyunjin touched it lightly. “Changbin made it feel better.”

“Usually Jisung is the one hurting himself.” Changbin teased.

“Hey!” Jisung frowned.

Changbin glanced at Hyunjin from time to time but he didn’t look back at him. He obviously felt shy again and didn’t want to acknowledge his small display of affection.

It was like he had shown Changbin a little part of his broken heart, holding it in his hands and offering it to him hesitantly. He had let Changbin reach past his walls for a moment and it spoke volumes to Changbin. He hoped it would mean further progress in the future.

Speaking of progress, he was teetering on the edge of making a very important decision. One had had been in the process of making for literally years.

“I just want to make it so special.” Changbin worried to Chan.

“It will be special! Don’t worry!” Chan consoled him, a little preoccupied with the little one crawling on his lap.

“I just feel like it’s not anything… big or flashy.” Changbin pointed out.

“You said she didn’t like those things!” Chan laughed.

“Should I just postpone it until I know what’s going on with Hyunjin?” Changbin bounced back and forth between a decision.

“I don’t know if you’ll ever find a perfect time to propose.” Chan tried to get Seungmin to sit still in his lap. They were at a little burger place.

“I don’t want her to feel like she’s waiting forever.” Changbin explained. “But also, it will add another thing to focus on with the three boys and Hyunjin’s case. Not to mention my work and-.”

“Changbin!” Chan stopped him. “You have the ring already. When you feel it’s right, go for it. Over planning is stressing you out and I know Misun wouldn’t mind if you handed to it to her at the dinner table.”

Changbin wrinkled his nose at the image.

“Can you sit still for a minute?” Chan shook his head at Seungmin. “You’re too big to sit on my lap anyways.”

Seungmin didn’t listen, leaning across the table to steal Changbin’s fries.

“Also, that’s not good manners!” Chan caught his wrist before he could do it again.

“How is everything at home?” Changbin asked Chan. He knew he would censor for Seungmin but he wanted a general update.

“Everything is good, I’m just so busy.” Chan laughed. “I swear I can’t remember when I slept last.”

Changbin shook his head and gave him a disapproving look.

“How has Ara not had your head?” He teased.

“No idea.” Chan smirked.

Changbin smiled at his best friend and at his son. He couldn’t wait to have Misun officially be a part of their family. It would feel like connecting the puzzle piece he had been missing for so long. It would be nice to officially have a partner and a helper as well.

But he did worry about taking the leap and starting a commitment when Hyunjin was still in his care. He would feel better if Hyunjin was either transitioning out, or was adopted. That way there was some permanency.

Hyunjin’s mother’s case was up in the air. Recovery for her was up and down. Saturday, they were supposed to have a visit but she wasn’t in the mindset. Changbin watched Hyunjin carefully, attentive to his reaction.

He was very different in his reaction in comparison to Jisung and his father. He took everything in stride with seemingly little to no emotion. It made Changbin confused. He couldn’t figure him out.

Deep down, Hyunjin has wrestling through his emotions. Changbin knew that and tried to be conscientious. He got a glimpse of what Hyunjin was thinking later that night after the cancelled visit.

He was ready to head to bed but the bathroom light caught his eye.

Hyunjin was in the bathroom, in his pajamas, but it was still late to be up.

“Hey kiddo.” Changbin said as he stood in the doorway.

Hyunjin jumped and Changbin winced. He hadn’t meant to startle him.

“It’s pretty late…” Changbin commented but trailed off when he saw Hyunjin had the first aid kit out and was bandaging his hand. When he noticed Changbin looking, he tucked his hand behind his back. Changbin had already seen the shallow cuts he must have reopened at some point in the day with his fingernails.

“Do you need any help?” Changbin asked gently.

“I-I’m fine.” Hyunjin avoided looking at him.

“It’s okay.” Changbin took a step closer but didn’t enter the bathroom. “Did anything make you anxious today? Just curious…”

Hyunjin stalled in answering him for a few seconds.

“I accidentally hurt myself.” He finally spoke. “I didn’t notice.”

Changbin had noticed he did so unconsciously often. It happened when he was anxious or stressed.

“Anything on your mind?” He asked.

“She’s never going to get better, is she?” Hyunjin abruptly turned the conversation. 

Changbin hesitated. It was very important how he answered. Biological parents were always a sensitive subject.

“Nothing’s working. She always goes back.” Hyunjin stared down at the counter.

His voice was really hollow and lifeless. Like he had already wrestled through it and come to terms with the fact.

“I don’t know.” Changbin answered honestly. He leaned his shoulder against the doorframe.

“What am I supposed to do then?” Hyunjin took a breath, trying to pull himself together. “I don’t know how to… do anything for myself. Alone I mean.”

“Do you think you would be alone?” Changbin frowned.

“If she doesn’t get better then who would I be with?” Hyunjin started putting the first aid kit away.

It was a sincere question and it made Changbin feel sad. In his mind he kind of assumed that if Hyunjin’s mother lost parental rights then he would stay with them. Changbin knew that a child wasn’t sure of adoption many times though and Changbin couldn’t prematurely promise anything. Therefore, his question was valid to Changbin. 

“I wish I could be on my own but it’s so hard.” Hyunjin admitted with a shy smile. “It would be nice but… it’s not easy.”

Changbin hated that Hyunjin would have to think of those things.

“Do you like being here?” Changbin asked.

Hyunjin avoided looking at him and shrugged slightly.

“Yeah.” He nodded. “Maybe, a little.”

It made Changbin feel a little better. At least he wasn’t feeling pushed out by anyone in the house even if him and Jisung struggled sometimes.

“There’s not much I can say.” Changbin said honestly. “But if you need anything, I’m always here.”

Hyunjin stared at him for a long moment and then he smiled softly.

“Thank you.” His voice was sincere.

Changbin nodded. He always wanted his kids to feel safe coming to him if they needed anything. He wanted to be more than just a home. He wanted to be a safe space.

Over time, Hyunjin would hopefully be able to accept Changbin’s gentle invitations to enter their safe space fully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am on vacation for three days so I will shift my posting schedule a little! I won’t post two days from now, but four days from now. So I’m just skipping a posting date! On another note, I may extend to 15 chapters but I would need more content to fill in the bit of extra page space I would still have. I thought it would be fun if anyone is interested, to leave a request of what you would like to see and I will try to include it! Just for fun! It could be an interaction, or a scene or anything! I will try my best to add as many as possible, though I doubt I will get very many suggestions hehe! And if I get none then we pretend this never happened! >u<


	6. Minho

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Not gone too long hopefully! Here is a short and sweet chapter to kick off the final chapters! I think… may add five, may not. I think I made a mistake having so many POV’s. I will stick to 2-4 from now on hehe. Honestly in this universe I have so much written down the road but am struggling with this connecting bit yikes!

Minho’s soccer coach recognized that having Minho working with Taeho on the team was causing an incredible amount of tension. It seemed as if they were just fighting over who had more say when it came to being captain of the team.

Unfortunately, his new strategy was to force the two of them together outside of team practice. Per the school requirements, the soccer team was supposed to “donate” two members from the team to help with school activities.

That’s how both Taeho and Minho ended up on the planning and executing team for the school dance.

“You’re lucky I’m the class president of the seniors.” Taeho bragged as they walked to a meeting. “I have a lot of say in what we do.”

Minho didn’t think that was a good thing. They had to meet once a week for an hour to plan for the dance. It was far from what Minho wanted to do, or what he considered himself skilled in.

There was one good thing about the planning team though. Her name was Sooyoung. She was one of the girls that had volunteered from the girls’ soccer team. Minho had seen her play a handful of times and he had been impressed. 

She was a senior so he never crossed paths with her. Now they were working together, they interacted more. 

“What do you think about the refs for last game?” Minho asked her as they looked through the ideas submitted for the dance.

“Too many missed off sides calls, but they handed out a lot of yellow cards.” She wrinkled her nose.

Minho thought she was cool. She spoke his language in a way. She loved soccer same as him and they had similar personalities in Minho’s opinion. Not to mention, she was so beautiful.

“Can you talk about anything other than soccer?” Taeho interrupted them by sitting and putting his arm over the back of Sooyoung’s chair. Minho felt bothered by his casual motion. Because Sooyoung was so easy to talk to and approachable, she was friends with lots of people, including Taeho.

“I liked this idea.” Sooyoung showed one of the options most voted for. “It’s a color dance. So everyone dresses in a white shirt, pretty casual, and we use glow in the dark paint to decorate both our shirts and whatever else like shoes or hats.”

“That’s a chill idea.” Taeho nodded. “What does Minho think.”

“It sounds just fine.” Minho said a bit tersely. He hated how cocky Taeho seemed.

“We can decorate with glow in the dark items since we don’t have much room for full-sized props.” Sooyoung rifled through more idea options for inspiration.

“It’s junior and seniors only, right?” Minho asked.

“Yeah, but a junior or senior could bring a lowerclassman if they wanted.” Taeho confirmed. “Why? Did you have someone in mind?” 

Sooyoung looked at Minho for his answer and he felt his ears heat up.

“Not at the moment, no.” He shrugged.

The only problem he had with the dance was… he wasn’t sure if he even wanted to go. He wouldn’t go alone and he would never be able to ask out the person he had in mind. She seemed too unattainable even though she sat directly across from him.

He was stressing about it when he went home after deciding on the theme. Asking Sooyoung out seemed like too much. He had only known her for a few weeks. Not to mention, Taeho seemed too close to her. They were a grade apart so surely; she would want to go with a senior.

“How was school today?” Ara asked him as he dropped his backpack by the door.

“Tiring.” Minho replied. “I can’t wait until Taeho is graduated.”

“Try to think positively!” She called after him as he headed upstairs.

Minho just wanted to take a shower and then a nap but he was distracted by Seungmin sitting on his bed in his room. It was rare to see him sitting still and not doing anything.

“Hey, what’s up?” He stood in the doorway.

Seungmin sat with his arms crossed and an adorably angry pout on his face.

“I’m in timeout.” He huffed in frustration.

“What for?” Minho held back a smile at his endearing expression

“Not listening.” Seungmin answered vaguely. “Can I get up now?”

“I don’t know.” Minho shrugged.

“Okay.” Seungmin slid off of his bed and went to his toy shelf.

“I didn’t say…” Minho gave up on trying to tell Seungmin to finish his discipline. He headed back downstairs to where Ara was starting dinner.

“I may have accidentally let Seungmin out of timeout.” Minho informed her as he went to the pantry

“Oops, I forgot to go talk to him.” She winced. “I’m a bit overwhelmed today.”

“Is he being naughty?” Minho laughed.

“His mood has been all over the place recently.” Ara sighed. “For some reason he keeps throwing a fit about school, either not wanting to go, or not wanting to do his homework… it’s always something.”

“I didn’t notice.” Minho thought back the past few weeks.

“As soon as we drop you off at school, he becomes unhappy.” Ara shooed him away from the pantry. “And homework is Chan’s battle.”

“Want me to talk to him about it?” Minho asked.

“You’re sweet.” Ara reached out to playfully pinch his cheek. “He should snap out of it. Or we will figure out what’s causing it. Whatever comes first.”

“Okay.” Minho nodded and wandered back upstairs.

He was getting ready to hop in the shower when Seungmin came in his room.

“Can you help me?” He came to stand in front of Minho.

“With what?” Minho asked.

“Can you take my ears out?” Seungmin yanked a bit at one of his implants clumsily. He could take them in and out himself if needed, but he usually had one of them do it.

“Why?” Minho asked, reaching down anyways. “It’s not bedtime.”

“I don’t want them.” Seungmin replied, brushing his own hair back from his forehead as Minho took the left side out.

It was a little odd but Minho didn’t think about it too much.

“I’ll hold onto them for you.” Minho held the pieces out of reach when Seungmin reached for them. He didn’t completely trust Seungmin not to accidentally lose them or forget where he put them.

He set them on his desk while he took a shower. He returned them to their designated place on Seungmin’s bedside table when he headed downstairs for dinner.

As soon as Minho entered the dining room, he was half-hugged, half-tackled from behind by Chan.

“Oof!” Minho grabbed the counter to keep from falling over. “What did I do?”

“Nothing.” Chan laughed and released him. “Well, many things, but we can talk about that after dinner.”

Minho’s face fell. He hadn’t remembered doing anything recently but it made him nervous anyways. Chan picked up on his nervousness and put his hand on his shoulder.

“It’s nothing bad, don’t worry!” He reassured him.

“Okay, just checking.” Minho rolled his eyes with a smile and sat down at the table.

Turns out, Chan just wanted to talk.

“I noticed recently how helpful you’ve been with Seungmin.” Chan started off with as they sat together on the couch. “It really means a lot. To us and to Seungmin.”

“Is this a sappy talk?” Minho teased.

“Yes and you have to listen to all of it!” Chan poked him.

“Fine…” Minho sighed.

“You’ve kept up with your studies well, you are committed to your team and you engage in the family.” Chan listed things off. “It takes maturity which you’ve shown you have.”

Minho nodded. His chest felt oddly light at the praise.

“I wanted to reward you.” Chan reached into his pocket. “These are for you. You can take anyone you want. Maybe Jisung?”

Minho accepted the two tickets into his hands. They were tickets to a college soccer game. It wasn’t professional but to Minho it felt like the best gift ever.

“Really?” He asked.

“Yep. I know it’s not much but I wanted you to get a little break and do something you love.” Chan explained.

Minho ran his fingers over the tickets slowly. He didn’t look up at Chan. He had words he wanted to say but couldn’t.

“Thank you.” He settled for saying quietly.

Chan patted his shoulder and stood up.

“I gotta go check on Seungmin but you think about who you want to bring with you.” Chan said.

Minho nodded and stood as well.

“Wait…” Chan paused when Minho called to him.

Minho wasn’t really an affectionate person but he was deeply touched by Chan’s thoughtfulness. He wanted to thank him better than words.

So he stepped forward and hugged him tightly. Chan hugged him back, warm and steady like always.

“I love you.” Chan said as he stepped back and rumpled Minho’s hair.

Minho nodded and combed his hair down. They were hard words to say for him but he hoped Chan knew he felt them without saying them.

The game was on Saturday. Minho went with Chan. He was the only person that he wanted to spend time with.

Monday brought a new complication to his life at school however. Minho was still on the fence about asking Sooyoung out but Taeho kept making it clear he was closer to her.

“Did you figure out who you were going to ask?” Sooyoung asked him as he helped her collect glow in the dark paint that had been donated.

“Not really…” Minho rubbed his neck awkwardly.

“You’re running out of time.” Taeho butted in as always.

“It’s not like you have anyone yet.” Minho shot back.

“It’s easy for me to get someone.” Taeho laughed. “Hey Sooyoung, wanna go with me?”

“Wow, I feel so flattered.” Sooyoung replied sarcastically but then she smiled and shoved him playfully. It left a bitter taste in Minho’s mouth.

“Come on.” He teased. “I’m a senior. Your bragging rights alone would be worth it.”

“I don’t care what class.” She shook her head. “Even going with a junior would be fine.”

She glanced over at Minho and he blanked for a moment. Luckily Taeho kept bugging Sooyoung and he didn’t have to acknowledge the odd moment.

Minho didn’t really want to think about it anymore but Jisung was still contemplating the whole situation when they were at his house studying. Jisung was on his bed reading a book and occasionally marking sections. Minho was sitting on the floor trying to struggle through a math problem.

“You know… taking Sooyoung to the school dance would be the best way to get back at Taeho.” Jisung commented.

Minho grunted. It wasn’t really that much of a big deal to him.

“You know she’s going to say yes so why haven’t you asked her already?” Jisung rolled dover to look down at him.

“I don’t know that.” Minho sighed. “Taeho will probably ask her out for real or maybe even convince her not to go with me after I’ve asked her.”

“Or look at how he’s already asked her and she said no.” Jisung pointed out.

“That was just messing around.” Minho had told Jisung everything, probably against his better judgement.

“I could just not go to the dance and study instead.” Minho gave an overly happy smile, knowing it would rile Jisung up.

“You’re so lucky you even get to go to this dance.” Jisung’s book barely dangled from his hand as he acted dejected.

“I’m sure there are plenty of people with a crush on you.” Minho rolled his eyes. “They’re probably just too scared to ask.”

“I bet no one even knows I exist.” Jisung sighed dramatically which was the cue for Minho to stand up and start tickling him.

“Stop, stop! Okay I get it!” Jisung laughed and lay flat on his bed to stare up at the ceiling.

“There is no way that nobody has a crush on my Jisung.” Minho lay beside him.

“What do you mean ‘my Jisung’?” Jisung smacked Minho’s stomach. “You make it sound like I’m your dog or something.”

“No, you’re my quokka.” Minho teased and blocked another hit.

Jisung let it slide and settled down.

“If it really makes you happy then I’ll ask her.” Minho finally relented.

“Really?” Immediately he sat up and looked down at Minho. 

“Yeah it’s whatever.” Minho sighed. “I’ll ask her on Monday.”

“What are you going to do?” Jisung waited expectantly but Minho had a blank look on his face. “Oh come on, you can’t just ask her!”

“Why not?” Minho frowned.

“You have to like, have flowers or give her a gift or something!” Jisung shook his head. “I’ll have to help you.”

Minho listened to Jisung’s ideas for nearly an hour but all of them seemed bland to him. He started to wonder if it was the ideas themselves or just the thought of doing them to Sooyoung. He couldn’t get the way she had laughed at Taeho out of his head. It bothered him sometimes.

She was always hanging around Taeho. Minho obviously wasn’t fond of Taeho so it rubbed him the wrong way that she was buddies with him.

Finally, they decided to stick with simple flowers. Jisung complained that Minho was too boring but that was all he was able to handle.

When Monday rolled around, Minho was nervous. He got up early and picked his clothes carefully. It made him blush just doing it but he took the effort to style his hair into soft curls. He had to admit he looked good but it didn’t dispel the butterflies in his stomach.

“You still need to tell me about this girl you’re taking to the dance.” Ara poked him as he headed out the door.

“Ah… I’ll tell you tonight.” Minho muttered shyly.

“You better!” She warned as they got in the car.

Minho avoided Jisung when he first arrived, hoping not to see him until lunch when he was finally asking. He couldn’t sit still in class, nervously tapping his foot and zoning out.

When the bell rung, he stalled, waiting for Sooyoung to leave. When he entered the hallway, her and Taeho were already together. Taeho was leaning against the lockers next to her while she put her books away. Jisung was doing the same just a few lockers over.

Sooyoung made eye contact with him and she smiled shyly. Minho had a feeling she was expecting him to ask judging by some of the less subtle hints she had dropped over time. Now that the dance was drawing close, she was probably even more expectant. Minho felt bad, he really did. 

Taeho watched him coldly as he approached. Sooyoung turned to talk to him but instead, Minho bowed his head to them and walked a few feet over to Jisung.

“Hey.” He greeted the younger boy.

“I’ve been looking for you all morning!” Jisung said and then glanced over his shoulder at the two people waiting for him.

“Oh, you look nice. Are you going to do it now?” He whispered, his eyes lighting up in excitement.

“Yeah but…” Minho scratched his neck sheepishly. “I didn’t bring flowers, or a gift…”

Jisung winced but patted his shoulder.

“It’ll be fine, just go for it.”

Minho took a breath while Jisung put the last of his books in his locker.

“Jisung.” He spoke a little louder, drawing the attention of Sooyoung and Taeho who were just a few feet away.

Jisung looked at him in surprise.

“Would you… go to the color dance with me?”

Jisung was frozen for a moment, his mouth forming an O shape and his brown eyes wide. Minho waited, knowing it was a surprise.

“Me?” He pointed at himself.

“Yes you.” Minho grinned. “I want to go to the color dance with you.”

Jisung looked panicked for a moment as he noticed Sooyoung frown and Taeho scoff nearby them. He grabbed Minho’s arm to lead him somewhere else but Minho held him still.

“I asked if you would go with me.” Minho encouraged him. “Aren’t you supposed to give me an answer?”

“But I thought…” Jisung trailed off.

“Not worth it.” Minho said, not caring if it was blunt. “I want to have a good time and not have to worry about doing everything just so for someone.”

“B-but-.” Jisung stammered.

“Do you want to go with me or not?” Minho asked, his confidence fading slightly.

“I- yes.” Jisung looked away shyly. “Yeah I do.”

“Cool.” Minho smiled, his chest feeling lighter.

“Now can we get out of here?” Jisung whispered. “Sooyoung is going to kill me!”

Minho laughed and slung his arm around Jisung’s shoulders. He walked happily down the hall, honestly relieved he didn’t have to put himself through navigating the experience with Sooyoung.

Minho strongly believed everyone should go to a dance with their best friend once in their life, plus, Jisung would be able to go if Minho took him along.

It was obvious that Jisung was beyond excited to go to the dance even if he tried to hide it. He spent the rest of the day texting Minho secretly during class asking him questions. Minho smiled a little at his enthusiasm.

“Did you ask her?” Ara asked excitedly at dinner that night. 

Minho shrugged and played with the food on his plate a little bit.

“I asked someone else.” He answered.

Chan raised an eyebrow in interest.

“I didn’t feel completely right about her. I mean, I like her I guess, but I felt like it would be too much pressure.” He explained. “I asked… Jisung.”

“Jisung. That’s great!” Chan laughed.

“He wouldn’t be able to go without an upperclassman asking him anyways.” Minho nodded.

“I think you’ll have more fun with Jisung.” Ara nodded and looked satisfied.

“It will be fun.” Minho agreed.

It was a little hard to face Sooyoung the next day but he managed it. In fact, she seemed more comfortable with him after the initial awkwardness on his part faded away.

Minho knew he made the right decision. It was better to enjoy himself and not add unnecessary pressure. Plus, he would rather just be friends with Sooyoung for the time being.

He was distracted from studying by Seungmin running into his room. If a door was open, Seungmin would just come running in. His energy was endless.

“Rawr!” He shouted, making claws with his hands. “Look at what I got!”

He was dressed in a tiger onesie that even came with a hood.

“Woah!” Minho gave him a strong reaction. “You’re like the tigers in the show!”

“I have a tail!” Seungmin turned around to show him.

“I don’t know if you’re a tiger.” Minho frowned playfully. “You’re a puppy to me.”

Seungmin pretended to attack him, jumping onto his lap and pretending to bite his leg. Or, kind of pretended.

“Ouch, don’t actually bite!” Minho scolded him.

Seungmin leaned against his legs and tilted his head up at him.

“Do you think I’m a tiger now?” He asked.

“Sure.” Minho smiled and rumpled his hair under his hood.

“What are you doing?” Seungmin climbed onto his lap, knocking his head against Minho’s chin accidentally. He was a little clumsy sometimes.

“Doing my math homework.” Minho tapped his pencil on the desk.

“Can I do it too?” Seungmin asked, squinting his eyes at the problem curiously.

“I don’t think so.” Minho laughed. “It’s a little hard.”

“I’m good at counting. Want me to show you?” Seungmin asked, trying to grab his pencil.

“Hold on!” Minho held it out of his reach. “I’m sure you are very good. I just have to focus, okay?”

“Do you like school?” Seungmin leaned forward and began looking through the pens he had on his desk.

“Yeah, I guess I do.” Minho shrugged. He had to hold Seungmin’s waist to keep him from toppling over.

“I don’t like school. Only recess and art time.” Seungmin grabbed a blue pen.

“Why don’t you like school?” Minho frowned, remembering what Ara had said.

“Um…” Seungmin got distracted by uncapping the pen and writing on the corner of Minho’s math homework. Minho let it go. He would just rewrite it on a new piece of paper.

“Seungmin?” Minho tapped his shoulder to get his attention.

“Sometimes the teacher is too quiet. She tells me not to kick my desk. And we have to raise our hands but she doesn’t pick me every time.” Seungmin explained.

Minho smiled a little. It seemed like little things, though he knew being in a classroom sometimes made it hard for Seungmin to distinguish all the overlapping noises.

“Is that it?” He asked.

“At recess, everyone trades erasers.” Seungmin frowned a little bit while doodling. “I don’t have erasers to trade. And… I don’t like when they talk about my ears.”

Minho was sure he could ask Chan about the erasers but he was curious about Seungmin mentioning the kids talking about his ears.

“What do they say?” He asked.

“They want to touch them, or laugh at them.” Seungmin shrugged his shoulders up and down. “They think it’s funny but I don’t want it to be funny.”

“Oh…” Minho wasn’t really sure what to say.

“Can you take them out?” Seungmin dropped his pen and shifted around to face Minho.

“It’s not quite bedtime yet.” Minho said.

“I know. But I don’t need them.” Seungmin wriggled out of his lap and stood, waiting for Minho to help him.

“Okay.” Minho wasn’t sure how to handle what Seungmin had told him. It seemed like it had already left his mind so he wasn’t sure if he should press it.

“Do you have a friend at school?” Minho asked.

“No.” Seungmin answered directly. “But someone might be my friend. I asked him but he doesn’t know yet.”

Minho smiled at that. Friendships were so simple sometimes. It reminded him of his friendship with Jisung in the beginning. He was sure for Seungmin it was just kids being shy.

“I don’t know if I want to be his friend though.” Seungmin changed his mind. “He sits by himself at recess. That’s no fun.”

“Mm you should give it a try.” Minho said.

“Can you read to me?” Seungmin asked as soon as Minho set his processors aside.

“I just-.” Minho started. He knew Seungmin wanted to have Minho read where he could feel him not hear him.

“I have to finish my homework bud. Why don’t you go ask Daddy?” He made a sad face.

“Kay!” Seungmin ran out of his room again. 

Minho thought about what he had said. He would talk to Chan about it in the morning.

He looked down at his homework to see a little tiger doodled in the corner by Seungmin. He cut out the little square and slipped it into his desk. Then he got out a fresh piece of paper and got to work copying down his work on the clean sheet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I used the color dance idea from a school dance I went to! It was really fun! I hope everyone was pleasantly surprised that Minho ended up asking Jisung to the dance! It’s always better to go with your heart and choose someone you feel comfortable with to have a good time with! Also a bit of foreshadowing for Seungmin in this chapter! Still deciding if I should do 15 chapters or stick with 10 and have a continuation of the story after I take a little creative break!


	7. Chan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone is doing well! Welcome to soft hours hehe, enjoy! This is one big fluffy chapter in my opinion! If you missed chapter 6 be sure to read it! It didn't seem to update for some reason but it's up! Also I may do spin off for Chan and Changbin’s backstory if you want!  
> Important note: Open adoptions function in many different ways. The relationship with Seungmin and his biological mother is loosely based off of one of the kiddos I work with who was adopted through an open adoption. There are many ways families can interact!

“Seungmin! Look over here and smile!” Chan urged. 

Seungmin turned and flashed him a peace sign and a wide smile that made his eyes curl closed. He turned back just as fast and Chan sighed. He hadn’t gotten the photo in time.

“Finished the letter.” Ara handed him a folded piece of paper she had printed up. “Proofread it and make sure everything is okay.”

Chan took it from her and handed her his phone.

“Get a decent photo for me.” He asked.

Seungmin’s birth mother asked for a photo and letter update twice a year. Once on his birthday and once on his half birthday. Since it was an open adoption there were certain interactions that occurred. Since Seungmin’s mom no longer lived nearby there were no visits, instead she got updates from letters and photos.

“There you go.” Ara put his phone in his hand after he was done reading the letter through. He would print up the photo, attach it, and send it on its way. They wouldn’t have to worry about it for another 183 days or so.

“I was thinking…” Ara sat next to him on the sofa bench they had on their front porch. They were in the front yard this time, watching Seungmin play in the grass with his animal toys.

“I want a playmate for him.” Ara linked her hand with Chan’s and rested it them on his knee.

“How so?” Chan asked. “At school?”

“I was thinking like… a brother or a sister.” Ara looked at Chan with a smile.

It didn’t need to be said that Chan was more than surprised.

“He has Minho.” He blurted out.

“I know, but there is such a large age gap. I was thinking, in the future, Minho will be off at college or pursuing his life and it will just be Seungmin here with us.” She rubbed her thumb over the back of Chan’s hand. “Maybe it would be good to have someone for him. Either a year or two younger or older.”

“We’ve talked about it before but… do you want to get pregnant?” Chan asked seriously.

“Honestly, as I said before, pregnancy has never really appealed to me.” She wrinkled her nose. “You know how rigorous my job is. I don’t know if I could take a break. If I even want to.”

Chan nodded. He had known when they were dating that she had never been against the idea of having kids, but having their own wasn’t something she looked forward to, if wanted at all. It was a year or two into their marriage that they had started looking into foster care.

“So you’re saying…” Chan got the hint.

“If we could adopt another kid around his age, wouldn’t it be good?” She asked.

“I would think you wanted another kid because Seungmin’s so cute and cuddly you want another baby but I know he’s a handful so we have to think carefully.” Chan laughed. “You’ve given this a lot of thought.”

“Of course.” She nodded. “I know it would be a little hard but I would really love to have a buddy for Seungmin and the house would be full even when Minho left.”

“I hear you and I like your thought process but…” Chan chuckled. “Do you remember two nights ago when you told me you retired as a mom.”

“Oh stop it!” Ara smacked his chest and he laughed. “I was just having a hard day! Having to scrub the hardwood floors because there were mud tracks everywhere wasn’t exactly fun!”

“You just want to add another little mess maker to our family, huh?” Chan teased.

“Hey, you’re the one who let him go wild when I wasn’t there!” She frowned and flicked his forehead.

“Okay, I admit.” Chan raised his hand in defeat. “Seungmin also probably has every other kid beat. It takes a lot to wear him out.”

“Are you happy we adopted him?” Ara rested her head on his shoulder, looking at the little boy crouched in the grass in front of them.

“What kind of question is that?” Chan asked. “Of course. He’s my son, yeah?”

“I mean… sometimes I wonder if doing everything is okay with you.” She sighed a little. “I know with my job I’m not home as much as I could be.”

“I don’t mind.” Chan leaned his cheek on the top of her head. “And you’re here a lot! You have nights and some weekends.”

“You just do a lot.” She continued. “Take care of the kiddos and manage your own job.”

“I love it.” Chan murmured. “I really love it.”

“I love you.” Ara raised her head to give him a kiss. “More than you can know.”

Chan smiled into the second kiss, pressing his forehead against hers afterwards.

“I love you too.” He whispered.

“Mommy!” Seungmin broke their moment by running up and holding his hands out to Ara. “Look what I found!”

“Woah!” Chan caught his hands and changed his direction before he could dump the bug on Ara’s lap.

“That’s your job.” Ara stood up to head inside. She bent down and pressed a kiss to Seungmin’s head before moving into the house.

“Wow, it’s a cool bug!” Chan cradled Seungmin’s hands in his own. “Mommy doesn’t like bugs as much as us though, so let’s keep them in our hands and not give her a present, okay?”

“Is it dead?” Seungmin frowned down at it. It wasn’t moving.

“I don’t think so.” Chan poked it and it scurried over Seungmin’s hand.

Seungmin shrieked and pulled his hands away. The bug rolled off somewhere while Seungmin wiped his hands on his shirt.

“Yucky.” He looked warily at the direction the bug had fallen in distaste.

Chan laughed and pulled Seungmin closer to cover his face with kisses.

“Ah!” Seungmin squirmed away and Chan pouted.

“You don’t want kisses?” He gave Seungmin the puppy dog eyes that he always turned on Chan. Seungmin kissed his hand and patted Chan’s knee.

Chan smiled as he ran back to where he was playing. He really couldn’t imagine his life without his roly poly baby.

Sometimes it was hard to juggle all of their schedules at once, but they made it work. Chan really loved being a dad more than anything else. Being at home with Minho and Seungmin recharged him and made him happiest.

One day, Chan was held at work late and Ara was working until late as well. Changbin had brought Minho and Seungmin to his house after school. Chan picked them up a little bit after dinner.

Maybe he missed the box because he was so tired. Minho was the one who brought it inside without thinking and set it on the table.

Chan sighed as he unbuttoned his shirt in his room. He couldn’t wait to sleep. He changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants. He would still have to put Seungmin to bed before he crashed, but he wanted to be comfortable.

“Come in.” He called when someone knocked on his door. Sounded like Minho.

“There’s something downstairs for Seungmin.” Minho poked his head in to inform him. “I’m trying to keep him from opening it.”

“Something for him?” Chan frowned, following Minho downstairs.

“Daddy look!” Seungmin was standing on a chair with his hands braced on the table. A box was in front of him.

“It’s a box for me!” He said excitedly. “It has my name on it!”

When Chan drew closer, he saw Seungmin was right. He was pointing at his name happily on the box.

“I found it on the porch.” Minho told him.

“Can I open it?” Seungmin was already pulling the box closer.

“Uh…” Chan had no idea who would have sent it but Seungmin was looking at him with eager brown eyes.

“Please?” Seungmin asked, giving him a smile.

“Let me see it really quick.” Chan stalled. There was only a PO box number which wasn’t very helpful. He grabbed scissors from the kitchen.

“I want to open it!” Seungmin reached for the scissors.

“I’ll open it.” Chan answered, lifting the box slightly to judge its weight.

“No! I want to open it!” Seungmin grabbed at his arm. “It’s mine!”

“Okay, okay.” Chan assured him. “Let me just cut the tape.”

He wanted to peek inside after he opened it but Seungmin pulled it closer to himself immediately and yanked the cardboard flaps open.

“Wah!” He squealed, reaching his hand in and pulling out a plush polar bear nestled inside. He crushed it to his chest and then grabbed the next item.

“It’s a car!” He exclaimed. 

“What in the world…” Chan pulled out the note stuck in the side of the box.

When he read it his heart sunk. They had never had a no gifts policy between Seungmin’s mom and them but it was generally decided on that the update letters and photos were the boundary.

Seungmin’s mom had sent the gift without notifying Ara or Chan. Leaving them in a hard situation. Chan wasn’t sure how to handle it at the moment. Should he even tell Seungmin who the gift was from? He wasn’t sure what reaction it would instigate.

Luckily, Seungmin was too preoccupied to notice the note Chan slipped in his pocket. He was so excited over his new toys.

Minho gave Chan a curious look and mouthed a question to him. Chan nodded in response. He tapped the table thoughtfully. How was he supposed to handle a moment like this?

Seungmin had fun running his car over the table for a few minutes and then Chan had to bring in reality.

“Alright Minnie, time to go to bed.” He patted his head gently.

“Look at my car!” Seungmin held it out to him. He was so excited about it. It made Chan’s heart hurt a little bit. There were a lot of complex emotions he was feeling at the moment.

“It’s so cool.” He nodded, lacking a bit of his usual enthusiasm. Seungmin was too happy to notice.

Chan was deep in thought as he helped Seungmin get ready for bed. 

Open adoptions sometimes got messy when lines got blurred between the families. It would seem like having both families involved would be great, but it wasn’t emotionally healthy for the child. They would feel torn between the two families and struggle to determine which one was their “real” one.

A simple gift didn’t seem like much, but it wasn’t part of the deal they had worked out. If Chan and Ara grew lax on the rules, it would open the door for more blurred lines and crossed boundaries.

If Chan did tell Seungmin the gift was from his mom, it would set up an expectation that Chan and Ara didn’t know if his mom could fulfill. Not to mention it was another reminder of the split that had occurred.

If only Chan could have had foresight to hide the package away. Then they could send it back and discuss what was acceptable or not again. But he honestly had no idea what it was until it was too late. 

Seungmin asked him when Chan was getting him dressed in pajamas.

“Who gave this to me?” Seungmin held the polar bear in his arms.

“Um…” Chan hesitated. “Someone who… loves you.”

Seungmin frowned, thinking, and Chan worried he would deduct from Chan’s vague answer.

“Changbin?” Seungmin asked, letting Chan tug his shirt off. He didn’t want to let go of the plushie though.

“No, but Changbin does love you.” Chan smiled tensely.

“Oh.” Seungmin pulled on his pajama shirt himself. He didn’t really need help, Chan just liked to baby him sometimes. “I like polar bears.”

“Uh huh.” Chan responded absentmindedly. He began to take out Seungmin’s implants.

“Is it a present for being good?” Seungmin tilted his head, still trying to figure it out.

“Sure…” Chan set the pieces aside. “In bed little puppy.”

Seungmin climbed into bed, snuggling with his bear and yawning. Chan had felt tired before but now he felt wide awake as he laid with Seungmin until he was asleep.

Minho intercepted him when left Seungmin’s room and closed the door softly behind him.

“Is everything okay?” He asked Chan hesitantly.

Chan let out a long breath and then step forward to pull Minho into a hug.

“Everything is fine.” He nodded. “It’s just a little setback. We’ll be fine.”

He knew Minho didn’t understand everything that was happening but he knew enough. He was a smart kid. He had both intellectual and emotional intelligence.

After talking to Ara, they both decided it would be best to let the topic of who sent the gift slide. Luckily, Seungmin didn’t ask about it the next day and by the end of the week it had faded from his memory completely. 

Chan still felt a twinge of frustration or sadness seeing his plushie on his bed. They made sure to establish that gifts either needed to be a regular occurrence on a set schedule, or none at all. The response was none at all.

Life continued on as if nothing had happened. It really was a small setback. But something else had changed with Seungmin. He wanted to use his implants less and less often and every time Chan picked him up from school, he was in a bad mood.

It lit a small flame of worry in Chan. He had struggled with doubts and worries after meeting with the support group revolving around Seungmin being hearing. He worried for Seungmin’s confidence or his sense of self-worth.

The words had settled a little too deep for him to brush aside and he began to worry as Seungmin took more and more quiet days. He wasn’t sure why, but it seemed like he didn’t want to function while hearing.

“Hey, where’s Seungmin?” Chan looked around, surprised he wasn’t underfoot.

“Playing in his room.” Ara looked at him seriously. “He’s having another quiet day.”

“Why?” Chan frowned. “School again?”

“I don’t know what he’s thinking.” Ara sighed. “His teachers said they haven’t noticed anything different socially. He probably struggles a bit more without them but he’s so adamant not to hear right now.”

That made Chan worried all over again. He could only guess that Seungmin didn’t want to wear his external processor because kids at his school said something or he felt different.

He stood in the doorway of Seungmin’s bedroom watching him set up his transforming toys. Nothing seemed different. He was focusing on playing with his tongue poking out of his mouth slightly in concentration.

Chan sat down next to him on the carpet. He picked up one of his toys and inspected it.

“That one is broken.” Seungmin said.

“What’s broken?” Chan asked.

Seungmin didn’t respond since he wasn’t looking at Chan and couldn’t see he was talking. Chan bit his lip.

“No, he can’t play.” Seungmin pushed the toy away when Chan tried to add it to his collection. “He’s broken.”

“How is he broken?” Chan asked, this time Seungmin could see him.

“He’s not the same as the other ones.” Seungmin lifted one of his other toys.

“That doesn’t mean he’s broken bud.” Chan tried to place the toy again and Seungmin stopped his hand.

“No.” His eyes were determined. “Everyone has to be the same.”

Chan wasn’t sure if it was just Seungmin wanting everything to be uniform, or if his insistence on pushing out the different toy stemmed from something deeper. 

“What’s wrong with him being different?” Chan asked gently. 

“Because…” Seungmin mumbled and looked away. “I don’t like different things. Nobody does…”

“That’s not true.” Chan shook his head and switched half to using sign language. “Maybe some people are uncomfortable but not everyone hates different things.”

Seungmin dropped his gaze and played mindlessly with his toys. Chan touched his chin so he looked at him again.

“Who do you feel like right now?” Chan pointed at the different toy and the similar ones. “This one or those ones?”

Seungmin hesitated for a long moment and then cautiously placed his finger on the different toy in Chan’s hand.

“Are you not allowed to play with these ones?” Chan asked with some concern.

“I can but… they know I’m different. It’s… not very fun.” Seungmin pulled the toy from Chan’s hand and set it out of reach.

“Is that why you don’t want to wear your ears?” Chan tilted his head. 

Seungmin frowned. Chan could understand without Seungmin explaining eloquently. Seungmin may not be able to vocalize it, but he was viewing his implants as a physical sign of him being deaf. An indicator of him being different. Surely kids at school had pointed the device out or asked about it. They didn’t necessarily need to be mean for Seungmin to feel different or isolated.

“I don’t need them.” Seungmin said with his features pulled into a frown. “I can be just like anybody else without them.”

Chan thought about his words for a moment.

“You’re right.” He said, speaking clearly and slowly so Seungmin could understand. “You can do anything they do.”

Seungmin stared back at him unwaveringly.

“But you are different.” Chan smiled as he said it. “There’s nothing wrong with that bud.”

Seungmin frowned again, looking surprised.

“This guy, he has a special power.” Chan held up the different toy. “He’s not broken. He can’t transform into a car, but he can fly.”

“He’s not the same though.” Seungmin repeated.

“So? He has his own special power!” Chan answered. “He’s cool!”

“I don’t know…” Seungmin looked skeptical.

“This one is my favorite though.” Chan grinned. “I like him because he’s different.”

Chan reached forward and gently brushed his thumb over Seungmin’s ear.

“You’re my favorite Minnie.” He said. “I want you to be happy with whatever you decide to be, okay bud?”

“What if I want to be the same.” Seungmin asked hesitantly.

Chan smiled and shifted his hand to gently press against his cheek.

“It’s okay to be that way too. If you’re confident with yourself then you did a good job bud.” Chan didn’t know if his words were flying over Seungmin’s head. Yet he felt they needed to be said anyways.

“Will you play with me?” Seungmin asked, already falling back into being a kid.

“Of course!” Chan laughed. “Let’s play!”

“Here.” Seungmin handed the different toy to Chan. It made him smile.

Chan hoped their little talk had some bearing on Seungmin’s confidence but he couldn’t tell right away. He still stayed up at night worrying. There wasn’t much he could do in regards to school. There wasn’t any bullying taking place, just kids being kids.

On the weekend he slept in, trying to catch up on the sleep he lost over the week. He was woken up by a little body crawling next to him. He smiled without opening his eyes.

“Daddy.” Seungmin whispered, tapping his nose.

“Hi baby.” Chan answered.

“Can you take me to the park?” Seungmin started squishing his cheeks in his small hands.

“I tried to hold him off as long as possible.” Ara said to him.

“I should get up.” Chan murmured but wrapped his arm around Seungmin and pulled him close. Seungmin squirmed around until Chan let him go.

“He’s only cuddly when he’s worn out.” Chan sighed, rolling onto his back as Seungmin ran out of the room.

“Do you want me to take him to the park?” Ara asked.

“No, I’ll do it.” he shook his head. “I’m sure Minho will want to come too.”

“Better get downstairs before those two boys eat all the breakfast.” she leaned down and pressed a kiss to his nose.

Chan headed downstairs after pulling himself out of bed. It wasn’t even that late in the morning, he was just used to getting up early.

“Hey! That’s mine!” Seungmin reached over to hit Minho as he stole a strawberry from his plate.

“No hitting.” Chan said automatically. Seungmin pouted and protected his plate with his arms.

Luckily there were a few pancakes and strawberries left for Chan. He sat down next to Seungmin and reached over to roll his sleeves up so he didn’t get them dirty.

“Did you see that dog?” Minho pointed behind Seungmin and then stole another strawberry when he turned to look.

When Seungmin realized what happened, he reached to hit Minho again, completely disregarding Chan’s warning. Chan caught his arm before he could.

“Really Minho?” he sighed.

“He’s teasing me!” Seungmin glared at Minho who had the bravery to smile.

“You, stop teasing.” he pointed to Minho and then Seungmin. “You, stop hitting.” 

Even though Minho and Seungmin were good buddies, they still got into little arguments. Especially with Minho loving to tease Seungmin and Seungmin being quick to get offended.

Luckily, they were buddies again when they headed to the park. Minho brought his soccer ball and cleats to practice at the goals set up and Seungmin brought his dump truck to play in the dirt.

Ara winced seeing it, knowing he would come back dirty. It was no use with Seungmin. If there was a way to get dirty, he would.

Chan glanced at Minho in the passenger seat next to him. Sometimes his heart almost ached with love. He was the sweetest kid Chan could have asked for. Even with his many struggles, it was totally worth it getting to see Minho’s smile.

Minho looked out the window, oblivious to Chan stealing a glance at him. He was really proud of his son. It seemed like only yesterday Chan and Ara had brought him back home. He had cried that night and Chan comforted him. It was a happy cry though. He was happy to finally be a part of their family.

Chan shifted his gaze to see Seungmin sitting behind him in the rearview mirror. Seungmin was all giggles and mischief and snuggles. Even though he easily outmatched Chan energy wise, he made Chan’s life so happy. Even if he was kicking the back of his seat again. Chan let it go.

Chan sat on the curb wrapping around the dirt picnic area while Seungmin played next to him. It was cute Seungmin sang to himself while he scooped dirt into his truck. Chan and Ara had sung to him often to help improve his speech. Now he hummed or sang them under his breath when he was doing something.

“Hey dad.” Minho joined them an hour later. “What are we doing for lunch?”

“I was just going to grab us something on the way home when we leave.” Chan answered.

Minho sat next to him. If it was up to Seungmin, he would stay at the park all day. Chan would give him another hour.

“I have a question.” Minho rolled his soccer ball between his legs.

“Shoot.” Chan nodded.

“Um… I’m taking Jisung to that school dance.” Minho avoided looking at Chan. He was a little shy. “What do I… do?”

“You mean at the dance?” Chan asked.

“I mean with… everything?” Minho frowned. “He seems to know a lot more about these things than me. I don’t want to mess anything up.”

Chan smiled. It was sweet he was concerned.

“First of all, it’s just about having a good time.” Chan replied. “The less you stress about it, the more fun you’ll have.”

Minho nodded, his concentrated expression making Chan want to squish him.

“It’s a casual kind of dance, right?” Minho nodded. “That’s even better. Have fun in the moment!”

“It just seems… simple.” Minho shrugged. “He’s so excited about it. I want it to be special for him.”

Chan nodded. He was glad Minho was thinking about Jisung and wanting to create a good time for him.

“I’ll tell you what.” Chan answered. “We’ll come up with something special to surprise him with when we pick him up, okay?”

Minho’s eyes lit up in interest. He nodded.

“Even if you didn’t do anything, Jisung would still have fun.” Chan laughed lightly. “He’s hard to disappoint.”

“Extreme optimism.” Minho smiled.

Chan laughed at that and slung his arm over Minho’s shoulder.

“He’s a good best friend, isn’t he?”

“The best.” Minho nodded and smile. “I’m glad… I’m glad I have a friendship like you and Changbin.”

Chan grinned. Him and Changbin did have the best friendship.

“When are you going to tell me the whole story of how you two became friends?” Minho poked him.

“One day.” Chan assured him. “When you’re ready.”

“I’m ready now.” Minho rolled his eyes.

“One day soon.” Chan promised. 

“Fine.” Minho sighed. Chan thought it was cute Minho liked to hear stories of Chan and Ara when they were younger. Ara mostly told him stories. Chan purposely didn’t tell him much yet. He felt like it was a part of his past he wanted to share with Minho at the right time.

“Alright Minnie, time to go.” Chan basically had to physically drag Seungmin from the park since he could play forever.

Minho held his truck while Chan held Seungmin. He luckily didn’t throw a fit.

“What do you two want to eat?” Chan asked as he opened up the car.

“Ice cream!” Seungmin cheered.

“I mean food silly!” Chan tickled him, making him squeal. Seungmin hugged his leg and looked up at him with such adoration in his eyes that Chan melted.

“Okay, ice cream after.” he pet Seungmin’s head gently.

When Seungmin came into the house with his half-eaten ice cream cone and dirt covering his shirt and shorts Ara gave him a look. Chan smiled sheepishly as he kicked off his shoes at the door.

“Spoiling them again?” she smacked his butt as he passed.

“Oops!” Chan raised his hands in surrender.

“Just grab him and stick him in the tub before he messes up my clean house.” Ara shook her head with a smile.

Chan grabbed Seungmin up in his arms and pulled his shoes off before taking him upstairs to get clean. It was constant dad duties. He loved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On a happy note! I saw my good friend in passing a few days ago! She is in a family of 9 kids, 5 of which were adopted through foster care. They also adopted 2 kids directly. It was really awesome to catch up and hear that they were in the process of adopting the youngest! Since most of the kids are grown now and in college, there are just two kiddos in the home. They are real sweethearts! Seeing the way their family interacts helps me add realism to my story so I was glad I got to spend some time with them!


	8. Hyunjin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter a while ago and edited it to fit the new timeline I came up with so I am sorry if it is a bit choppy! I wish I could include three POV’s in this chapter but I ofc only have one! I’m sorry if it is confusing in any way! I think this chapter is generally happy and cute other than the scene with the TW! Enjoy!  
> TW: Anxiety attack, Non-consensual Touching (Flashback)

Every day Hyunjin spent with Changbin and Jisung, he became more and more comfortable with them. Out of all the families he had lived with, they were his favorite.

He still struggled sometimes but it was natural that nothing was perfect. He didn’t mind hanging out with the two of them, he accepted cuddles from Changbin sometimes though they were always very brief and simple. He put up with Jisung talking on the phone past their bedtime. He felt like he was doing well.

Except for one day. He was feeling a little overstimulated. Misun was over and they had been playing a game. Hyunjin felt overwhelmed by everyone laughing and talking about Jisung bumping up against him from time to time. He felt the familiar itching in his chest of an impending flood of anxiety. 

He excused himself from the game and went to the kitchen to create space. He paced back and forth trying to calm himself down but it was hard when his body wasn’t listening to him.

“Hey, is everything okay?” Changbin asked, joining him in the kitchen.

“I feel like that again.” Hyunjin kept pacing, wringing his hands again. Changbin seemed to understand he was anxious.

“Okay, take a deep breath.” Changbin said. Usually helped Hyunjin wind down but in the moment, he was reaching peak panic mode.

He turned and abruptly headed to the bathroom. He didn’t want Changbin near him. It made him feel worse for some reason. His brain abruptly glitched back to a memory he tried to shove down. It was always that one memory trying to pop up at the worst times. He stood in front of the mirror trying to take deep breath. Why wasn’t he calming down?

He curled his hands in his hair, the slight strain helping ground him. Changbin appeared in the doorway, taking in his state.

“Hyunjin, please don’t hurt yourself.” Changbin asked, still keeping a distance.

Hyunjin barely heard him. His heart was beating too fast and he felt a little out of control. His hands tightened in his hair until it was painful.

“You’re okay Hyunjin.” Changbin assured him. “Take a deep breath.”

He untangled his fingers from his hair, trying to breath. He couldn’t stop what was happening to him. He was feeling so overwhelmed. It felt like there were hands squeezing his arms and holding him down.

His own fingers gripped his arms tightly, pressing hard enough to dig into the skin.

“Hyunjin-.” Changbin stepped forward, not able to take it anymore. His hands covered Hyunjin’s. “Let go. Please don’t hurt yourself.”

It was just Changbin. It was just Changbin. Hyunjin repeated in his head over and over when he felt Changbin’s strong hands holding him. He suddenly felt like he was towering over Hyunjin. What would he do to him? 

“Let go sweetheart.” Changbin tried to pry his fingers from bruising his arms. Hyunjin lost his composure.

“Don’t touch me!” he shouted and shoved Changbin away as hard as he could.

Changbin stumbled and fell back against the counter. Hyunjin stepped back as well, trying to give him space. His back hit the wall and he felt trapped. He sunk to the floor and wrapped his arms around his knees tightly, burying his face.

He was crying and he was sure he was making noises but he couldn’t hear past the buzzing in his ears. It was hard to breathe and his whole body felt like it was hypersensitive. He just wanted to recede into himself far enough so it wouldn’t hurt.

Time stretched on, he didn’t know how long, and he slowly regained his bearings. He was trembling, his fingers loosening their grip around his knees but shaking with nothing to hold.

When he raised his head, Changbin was crouched near the door, his head bowed. Hyunjin felt awful. He had pushed Changbin and freaked out.

“Hey…” Changbin raised his head and offered him a soft smile. “How are you feeling?”

Hyunjin looked away, wiping his face with his sleeve and trying not to look entirely pitiful. Changbin stood and Hyunjin felt a lingering stroke of fear. Changbin only handed him a soft towel to wipe his face.

“Do you want me to stay or leave?” Changbin asked gently.

Hyunjin didn’t know. He didn’t want to be alone, but his body was irrationally stirring up fear towards anyone.

“Stay.”

He ended up crying a little more. Changbin didn’t say anything. He stayed there silently but at least Hyunjin wasn’t alone.

It took a long time for Hyunjin to be able to gain the physical and emotional strength to stand up and leave the bathroom. When he came into the living room, Misun was sitting on the couch.

To his own surprise, Hyunjin headed straight for her and gave her a hug. He wanted comfort so badly, he didn’t care if it made him look weak. She gently ran her hand over his back, letting him know everything was alright.

When he sat next to her, Changbin left the room. He seemed to sense that they wanted to talk. Or needed to talk.

“Can you give me a little glimpse into what happened in your mind?” she asked. 

Hyunjin nodded but the words seemed stuck in his chest.

“Is there something that happened, maybe in the past, that you still think about?” Misun was getting closer to the heart of Hyunjin’s issue.

He nodded again hesitantly.

“Take your time.” Misun said gently.

“I-I’m sorry, I just-.” Hyunjin pressed his hands together to keep them from shaking.

“It’s up to you if you want to say anything or not.” Misun placed her hand on his knee. It was a light touch but it grounded him.

“There was someone at my house.” Hyunjin started shakily. “A-At my mom’s house I mean. A stranger.”

Misun stayed quiet, letting him talk.

“They touched me.” he whispered. 

The words felt like they descended on the room heavily. Misun only frowned slightly and tilted her head.

“I said no but… they touched me anyways.” Hyunjin elaborated.

Recognition dawned in Misun’s eyes and Hyunjin looked away. He felt ashamed all over again. He wrapped his arms around himself and bit his lip worriedly.

“It’s okay.” Misun removed her hand. Maybe she worried it would be triggering but Hyunjin missed the soft touch.

“It’s not like… that, happened.” Hyunjin wanted to clarify. “I-I got away before anything really bad happened. But I still…”

He shivered, remembering a hand touching his cheek, sliding over his chest. He had said no. He had said please stop. It didn’t stop.

Misun nodded, giving him space to say anything more.

“I was so scared.” Hyunjin whispered like a secret. “Afterwards… I still feel… bad inside.”

“It’s not your fault Hyunjin.” Misun said seriously.

They were words Hyunjin had never heard, never been able to even tell himself. He clung to them like his only hope.

“I feel wrong.” Hyunjin whispered. “I didn’t say okay but I still feel wrong.”

“It’s natural to feel that way even though you didn’t do anything wrong.” Misun stressed the last part of the sentence. “Your consent was not given so you should never feel like you gave something up willingly just because it was taken from you.”

Hyunjin stared at Misun. Her words seemed almost foreign. They were so different from the ones he had whispered to himself at night. The ones he suffered under when he took a shower. When he thought about his own body.

“That should never have happened.” she said. “You didn’t do anything to deserve that.”

“I still can’t stop thinking about it.” he admitted.

“I’m sorry Hyunjin.” Misun’s eyes were so sad. Her hand hovered over his arm again and he nodded. She gently rubbed his arm in comfort.

“Thank you for telling me.” she said. “You’re really brave, did you know that?”

Hyunjin remembered Changbin had called him brave as well. It seemed like it was in the moments he felt least brave.

“I’m so sorry.” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to push Changbin.”

“He’s not mad at you.” Misun shook her head. “He understands and knows it was an accident. You don’t have to worry, okay?”

Hyunjin nodded, not sure if he fully trusted that yet.

“Would you be okay with telling him?” she asked. “I think he would want to know.”

“I-I don’t know.” Hyunjin hesitated. “Maybe… could you tell him for me?”

“Can I tell him right now?” she asked.

Hyunjin considered it for a minute and then nodded slowly. Telling Misun had made him feel a little less terrified of sharing his secret.

Changbin heard everything he had to say through Misun without being angry. Hyunjin watched him closely. A mix of emotions passed over his face, but nothing worrisome. He looked sad, worried, and lastly compassionate. The same look Misun had. It made Hyunjin feel a little overwhelmed. He looked down at his hands in his lap.

“Thank you for sharing with us.” Changbin told him. “I know it was hard to share so thank you.”

Hyunjin nodded. He didn’t know how to respond.

“I understand why some things may make you uncomfortable.” Changbin continued. “If you’re able to, let me know as soon as you start feeling badly and I’ll try to help.”

“I don’t mind when you touch me.” Hyunjin said both to Misun and Changbin. “I know you and trust you. Sometimes my body just reacts.”

“It’s okay. You don’t need to feel ashamed about it.” Misun assured him. “Touch avoidance is common when you have had a traumatic experience with some kind of physical contact involved.”

When Misun laid it out plainly it didn’t feel as scary.

“Will I be like this forever?” Hyunjin asked.

“No, not if we help you.” Misun smiled to encourage him. “You’ll be just fine.”

“Okay.” Hyunjin let out a small breath. He felt a little better. He had never told anyone before. It felt relieving to let go of the weight in his chest.

Life continued on normally after their talk. That night, Hyunjin slept better than he had in a long time. Or maybe he just woke up feeling a little more set free from his burden. Since it was the weekend, Changbin had planned for them to go to a street fair. Hyunjin was excited.

“I’m giving you each 5 tickets.” Changbin handed out the tickets he had bought. “Spend them wisely. I’ll buy more if we need but start with these.”

Hyunjin thanked him as he accepted the tickets.

“Let’s go to the Ferris wheel!” Jisung grabbed Minho’s arm and started dragging him in that direction. Minho had come along with them.

“It cost two tickets though!” Minho argued he was pulled away.

Hyunjin was left with Changbin and Misun.

“You can run and catch up to them.” Changbin smiled.

“It’s okay.” Hyunjin shook his head. “I’ll go by myself for a little bit.”

He liked walking through the booths and stalls looking at everything. Something at one of the middle stalls caught his eye immediately. It was a huge plush whale with the cutest face Hyunjin had ever seen. He drew closer to look at it.

It was the prize for shooting all five targets in the shooting game. Hyunjin looked down at the tickets in his hand. It costs one ticket to play. He decided it was worth it with the prospect of winning the whale in his mind.

The first time Hyunjin played he only shot three targets. He frowned. The last two were harder on purpose. Of course, winning the game couldn’t be too easy. He wanted to try again, but he didn’t want to use up all of his tickets.

Twenty minutes later he only had one ticket left and he was still stuck on three targets. He was so close to the fourth one.

“What are you playing?” Jisung’s voice called next to Hyunjin, making him jump.

Changbin wasn’t with him this time.

“Oh! I’m great at this game! Let me try!” Jisung pushed in front of him and handed over his ticket to the man operating the booth. 

Hyunjin watched intently as Jisung easily blew through the first three targets and then managed to clear the fourth one as well.

“Ah darn.” Jisung frowned. “I was close.”

“I want to get the whale.” Hyunjin pointed it out to Jisung.

“This game can’t beat us.” Jisung nodded his head in determination. “I still have one more ticket. “How many do you have?”

“Just one.” Hyunjin showed him.

“We can do it in two chances.” Jisung handed over his last ticket and set up again. Hyunjin hovered next to him. 

Jisung hit the first four targets again but then missed the fifth. He groaned but Hyunjin quickly extended his last ticket to him. 

Hyunjin held his breath as he aimed at the last target they needed. His shot only clipped the side and they had lost again.

“We’re out of tickets.” Hyunjin said sadly.

“Hm… I know where we can get more.” Jisung said with a grin on his face.

Hyunjin followed him as he ran off.

“Can we just have two more tickets?” Jisung clasped his hands together and gave Changbin his best puppy dog eyes. Hyunjin waited expectantly next to him.

Changbin sighed but he was smiling. He reached into his pocket and handed them two additional tickets.

“Thanks!” Jisung cheered.

He grabbed Hyunjin’s wrist and pulled him along as he took off running. He was probably just making sure Hyunjin didn’t get lost in the crowd but it made Hyunjin feel happy. It felt like he was being included in something special.

“Okay we have to get it this time.” Jisung handed Hyunjin one of the tickets as they stood in front of the booth again. 

“You should do both tries.” Hyunjin handed the ticket back. “You’re better at it.”

“Okay.” Jisung took a deep breath before positioning himself to shoot again.

He got through the first four again and took a long time aiming for the fifth. Hyunjin didn’t breathe for a whole ten seconds as he aimed and pulled the trigger. The last target was finally hit.

“Yes!” Jisung pumped his fist in the air and Hyunjin jumped happily.

“We did it!” Hyunjin hugged Jisung in excitement.

Jisung squeezed him back tightly before they both realized what they were doing and separated quickly. Jisung cleared his throat awkwardly.

“What prize do you want?” The man working the booth asked.

“That one please.” Hyunjin pointed shyly at the adorable whale.

He hugged it against his chest when the man handed it over. It was extra plushy and he could barely wrap his arms around it. He handed it over to Jisung. He was the one who had won it really.

Jisung squished it with a huge smile on his face but then handed it back to Hyunjin.

“Here. It’s yours.” he said.

“You’re the one who played for it.” Hyunjin held it loosely in his arms.

“How about we share it?” Jisung suggested.

“Deal!” Hyunjin grinned, hugging it closely.

“We still have on more ticket.” Jisung commented. “We should get something to eat.”

Hyunjin nodded in agreement. He wanted a yummy snack.

They split a funnel cake while walking through the rest of the street fair. Hyunjin glanced over at Jisung as he dusted powdered sugar from his fingers. He was loud, sometimes overly energetic, and he bothered Hyunjin a lot, but he wasn’t all that bad. In fact, when Hyunjin was with him, it wasn’t bad at all. It was fun.

“What?” Jisung asked, catching him looking at him.

“Oh nothing.” Hyunjin shook his head quickly. Jisung wiped his mouth with the back of his hand just in case. Hyunjin hid a smile and looked away.

“Let’s go find Minho!” Jisung said, running off again.

“You two look like you were very successful.” Changbin commented when they came back with their prize tucked under Hyunjin’s arm.

“We won it together.” Jisung told him. Hyunjin nodded in agreement.

Changbin looked between the two of them and smiled.

Hyunjin held the plushie in his lap on the way home. They stayed until late to watch the fireworks so he was sleepy. Minho sat in between Hyunjin and Jisung.

Hyunjin was so tired he kept nodding off, accidentally bumping Minho’s shoulder with his head. Minho chuckled when he murmured an apology.

“It’s okay. This is more comfortable.” Minho reached up and lightly guided his head down to rest on his shoulder.

He fell asleep quickly with Minho acting as a pillow. He felt happy and content at the end of the day. It was one of the best days he had in a long time.

He was woken up when they dropped Minho off and he noticed Jisung was leaning on Minho’s other side when he raised his head.

Jisung brushed his teeth with his eyes closed he was so tired. Hyunjin tried not to laugh at him as he moved around him to get ready for bed. Jisung washed his face with Hyunjin’s face wash but Hyunjin didn’t say anything.

Jisung also kicked off his clothes while changing into his pajamas and they landed on Hyunjin’s side of the room which was decidedly much cleaner. Instead of getting angry, Hyunjin just moved them to his hamper and then fell in bed. 

“Goodnight.” Jisung mumbled before falling face first into his bed as well.

“Goodnight.” Hyunjin whispered back.

He fell asleep with his arm around the whale plushie that they had gotten. Together.

The next week on the same day was a court date.

Hyunjin hated court dates. He hated the stress and tension they caused. He hated the results that never seemed to go in his favor. He just hated the fact that his life was being decided by someone who barely knew him.

This court date was different though. It was another important day, deciding on his mom’s parental rights. Visits had been little to none recently so Hyunjin wasn’t sure how it would change everything.

When the judge officially ruled Hyunjin’s biological mother’s rights terminated and him free in the system, he couldn’t believe it. It made no sense.

It didn’t make sense hours later. Hyunjin felt like he wasn’t living in reality. Just like that, everything changed. Changbin asked if he was okay and he said yes but he felt like he wasn’t even sure what he should be feeling.

He felt numb until that night, when he went to bed. He sat cross-legged on his bed in his pajamas, staring down at his phone. He looked down at his mother’s contact. He had no reason to contact her ever again. It was so strange.

Jisung came in the room. Hyunjin set his phone down and watched him with his eyes. He seemed frustrated. His face was pulled into a frown and he didn’t say a word.

“Did you hear?” Hyunjin asked quietly.

Jisung nodded once. Changbin must have told him.

“Maybe now this is permanently my side of the room now.” 

He didn’t know exactly why he said it. He didn’t know if Changbin would adopt him. He didn’t know anything at the moment. But maybe it revealed his secret wish.

“I guess we’ll be together a lot longer. If Changbin adopts me.”

Hyunjin wouldn’t say it out loud, but the deepest wishes of his heart were revealing themselves. He wanted to stay with Changbin and even Jisung. Maybe now it would really be a forever thing. He hadn’t expected adoption to be an option, but now it was he found himself hoping it would take place.

“That’s really cool.” Jisung answered in a low voice. He didn’t look at Hyunjin. “I’m sure he will.”

“He might.” It was all Hyunjin could come up with. His insecurities came rushing back in.

Jisung stayed quiet and Hyunjin worried a little bit.

“A-Are you not happy? That I might stay?” he asked.

Jisung stalled in answering just a bit too long. Hyunjin’s heart sank.

“I’m happy.” Jisung answered, but it didn’t hold any enthusiasm.

It hurt Hyunjin a little more than he wanted to admit. He wouldn’t say him and Jisung were friends, but he thought they were warming up to each other a little more recently. Maybe he was wrong.

Hyunjin felt awkward staying in the room with Jisung. The younger boy lay on his bed staring up at his phone. His face was still void of a smile. Hyunjin left the room. It was Jisung’s room anyways. It wasn’t like he had ownership over anything really.

He knocked lightly on Changbin’s door before entering at his acceptance.

“Hi.” Changbin was changed into pajamas as well, leaning back on his bed with his laptop resting on his legs.

“Hi.” Hyunjin responded shyly. He closed the door behind him and then stood awkwardly in the middle of the room.

Changbin moved aside the notebook and pencil he had next to him. Hyunjin accepted hi silent invite and sat next to him with his back against his pillows.

“What’s up?” Changbin asked.

“I don’t know…” Hyunjin answered honestly.

“Feeling a little strange?” Changbin closed his laptop to focus on him.

“A little.” Hyunjin nodded.

“If you want to talk about anything or ask me anything, feel free.” Changbin opened the space if he needed to talk.

“I don’t know what to think or feel.” Hyunjin whispered.

“That’s okay.” Changbin nodded. “Today was… a roller coaster of the day.”

“She’s really not my mom anymore?” Hyunjin said softly.

Changbin didn’t answer right away, watching Hyunjin closely.

“Are you sad?” Changbin asked.

“I don’t think so…” Hyunjin frowned. “Is that bad?”

“No. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours yet. I think all of our emotions will be a little off for a bit.” Changbin assured him.

Hyunjin nodded, fiddling with his fingers in his lap.

“How can I make things better for you?” Changbin asked. “Anything you need?”

“Can we just talk?” Hyunjin asked. “About something else. Anything, I don’t mind.”

“Sure.” Changbin smiled.

The next morning, Hyunjin felt terrible. His insecurities about whether or not Changbin would adopt him came back in full force. Jisung didn’t speak to him still and the tense aura around him made Hyunjin nervous.

“Tonight, we’re going to Chan’s house.” Changbin told them at lunch. “I wanted to do a little something special since it’s… a different day.”

Jisung frowned and Hyunjin’s heartbeat picked up. He had been in enough homes to know how it went. They always tried to do something to “send him off” on a good note. It made him feel even worse. And now Changbin wanted to do the same thing. Was it him trying to signal to Hyunjin that he would be leaving?

Hyunjin didn’t know what to do until the evening so he did the only thing he knew to do. He began to pack. He had accumulated a few more things living with Changbin but still not much. He was able to pack everything easily in a suitcase. He felt close to tears the whole time he was packing but he held it all in.

When he came downstairs, he paused before entering the kitchen. Changbin and Jisung were talking.

“Jisung, stop.” Changbin stopped Jisung from speaking. “It won’t be for much longer, okay? You’ll get your own room back soon enough.”

“It’s still a bother.” Jisung grumbled.

Hyunjin drew back. Changbin had said that Jisung would get his room back. That meant Hyunjin had to be leaving for sure. Of course. Of course it was the truth. Changbin already had Jisung and he couldn’t deal with all of Hyunjin’s problems.

“Hey, are you ready to go?” Changbin asked as he exited the kitchen.

“Yeah.” Hyunjin nodded, his head down.

He wasn’t ready to leave. Maybe physically he was but emotionally he wasn’t.

He was silent the whole drive to Chan’s house. He couldn’t eat anything at dinner and everything felt too harsh. Even Jisung laughing grated on his sensitive heart.

When they all moved to the living room, Changbin put his arm lightly around Hyunjin’s shoulders, keeping him standing. The others sat down. Hyunjin hated the familiar setting. This was where they would say goodbye to him. It was the final little scrape that broke Hyunjin’s heart. Changbin wasn’t going to adopt him. He had let himself get his hopes up and here he was about to have everything ripped away from him again.

“I think we all have something to say to Hyunjin, but I wanted to start by asking Hyunjin something.” Changbin started. “Tonight is a special night to me but I want you to know that you can answer however you want, okay Hyunjin?”

Changbin addressed him directly. Hyunjin felt all the emotion from the day rising up again.

“Hyunjin?” Changbin asked, noting his silence.

Everyone looked at him, staring at him when he already felt so fragile. The tears started slowly and then all at once. He hugged his arms around himself and bowed his head.

“Are you okay?” Seungmin piped up, a worried look washing over his face.

“Hey…” Changbin stepped in front of him, mostly shielding him from view of the others and lightly touched his arms. “What’s wrong?”

Hyunjin shook his head. He couldn’t say it out loud. It hurt too much. Changbin hugged him gently but Hyunjin stayed stiff, refusing to reciprocate.

“Do you know what I’m going to ask you?” Changbin asked.

Hyunjin shook his head. It was the last of his worries at the moment.

“Why are you crying sweetheart?” Changbin pulled back to look at him worriedly.

Hyunjin wiped his tears with his sleeve and looked away.

“Can we talk in private for a minute?” Changbin asked him quietly.

Hyunjin hesitated but he didn’t want to be around everyone while he was breaking down so he nodded. He followed Changbin into the side room.

“You okay?” Changbin handed him some tissues. Hyunjin was silent for a moment.

“No.”

“I’m sorry.” Changbin said. “Maybe I shouldn’t have done it in front of everyone. I just thought it would be nice if everyone was there. Was it overwhelming?”

“Yes.” Hyunjin answered. “I’m sorry. I’m just sad.”

“Why are you sad?” Changbin frowned. 

Changbin was confused but Hyunjin struggled to say what he needed to say.

“You’re going to send me away soon and I don’t know what to do!” Hyunjin cried. “I don’t want to go away! I don’t want to leave you, o-or Jisung!”

“What are you talking about?” Changbin looked utterly lost.

“You’re going to send me back since you aren’t going to adopt me.” Hyunjin answered, sharing the real reason he was struggling so much.

Changbin was silent. Hyunjin pressed a tissue to his eyes. Changbin would probably apologize or try to assure him everything would be okay but it didn’t change anything.

“Why do you think I set up this little get together with everyone?” Changbin asked.

Hyunjin shrugged miserably. 

“So I can say goodbye to everyone all at once.” he sniffled.

“I was going to ask you if I could adopt you.”

Hyunjin raised his head, not sure if he heard correctly.

“I’m so sorry Hyunjin.” Changbin reached forward and pulled him into another hug. “I never wanted you to feel afraid I would send you away.”

“You’re not?” Hyunjin asked, slowly hugging him back.

“I would never.” Changbin assured him. “I didn’t think I would get the choice, but I was so happy yesterday that I have the opportunity.”

Everything he was saying was the opposite of what Hyunjin had thought.

“I promise I won’t send you away if you don’t want me to.” Changbin looked at him and gently squeezed his shoulder. “If you want… I would like to adopt you.”

“Yes.” Hyunjin choked out. “Yes please, yes.”

Changbin smiled so brightly it looked like he would burst into laughter.

“Yeah?” he asked. “You really want me to adopt you?”

“Yes.” Hyunjin’s bottom lip trembled. He almost worried it was a cruel prank or something. It couldn’t be true.

“I didn’t mean to make you cry!” Changbin brushed his tears away. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Hyunjin wiped away stray tears. “Do you really mean it though?”

“It’s all I want in the world right now.” Changbin cupped his face and looked deep into his eyes. “I want to be your dad.”

Hyunjin tried to hold it back but his face screwed up and he began crying again. This time happy tears. He hugged Changbin again, feeling protected in his embrace.

When they came back into the living room, Minho stood from the couch and hugged Hyunjin tightly.

“Even if you say no, you’ll always be one of my friends.” he whispered in Hyunjin’s ear. Hyunjin buried his face in his shoulder and breathed in his familiar scent.

“Can I say yes and be your friend?” Hyunjin asked.

Minho pulled back; surprise written all over his face.

“R-Really?” he asked.

“Yes.” Hyunjin nodded with a smile. “Yes. I said yes. I want to be adopted!”

Minho surged forward, lifting Hyunjin off of his feet in a hug. Hyunjin laughed in pure joy, clinging to him so he didn’t fall.

Chan cheered in the background and Seungmin squealed in happiness, though he probably didn’t know what was happening.

When Minho set Hyunjin safely on his feet, Changbin hugged them both from the side in a group hug. He motioned Jisung over who joined the hug for a moment before stepping back. They all stepped back and Hyunjin covered his face in happy embarrassment.

His heart felt like it could burst out of his chest with how overjoyed he was. He had gone from despair to hope in just an hour. After celebrating with ice cream and getting hugs from everyone there, they headed home. To Hyunjin’s home.

Hyunjin couldn’t stop smiling no matter how hard he tried. He was unbelievably happy.

“Knock knock.” Changbin appeared in the open doorway to his room.

“Hi.” Hyunjin smiled at him.

“What is this?” Changbin asked, moving into the room to look at his open suitcase laying on the bed. He had been in the process of “unpacking”.

“I thought…” Hyunjin answered shyly.

“Oh Hyunjin.” Changbin sat on his bed to look at him. “Did you really believe I would send you away?”

Hyunjin shrugged one shoulder sheepishly.

“Why would you think that?” Changbin wanted to know.

“I just thought… I heard you talking to Jisung.” he replied. “You said he would get his own room back.”

“That- ah…” Changbin shook his head. “I was talking about him moving to my office! I was planning on renovating the space it just takes a lot of time and I planned on adopting you before starting the project. It’s still not for a while but Jisung asked about it so I said that.”

“Oops.” Hyunjin blushed, embarrassed he had thought that way. He didn’t want to mention that he had noticed Jisung was less than thrilled that he was stayed.

“Now that’s all cleared up. I want you to feel completely confident.” Changbin said. “I want to adopt you. I will adopt you, okay?”

Hyunjin nodded, another smile creeping back onto his face.

“Thank you.” he said.

Changbin nodded with his own smile.

“I’m so happy.” he told Hyunjin. Hyunjin beamed as he answered Changbin.

“Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise!! How was it? Happy? It made me so happy to write it! I purposely skipped over almost all of Hyunjin’s interactions with his biological parent and the court affairs since they were present in my last story and I worried they would bog this one down! Especially since I’m working with only 2 chapters per character!


	9. Jisung

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Second to last chapter wow! I’m really glad I’m wrapping up this story since I’m already excited to move on to the next part hehe! I want to introduce Felix and Jeongin! ;) But I might not post it right away. I don’t know what to post first. Chan and Changbin backstory or pt. 3 of this series?  
> TW: Mild Injury

Jisung didn’t think he liked welcoming another addition into their household. He didn’t like thinking that Hyunjin would be staying permanently. It wasn’t that he hated the other boy, it just didn’t make sense. Their family was Jisung’s family. Changbin had been Jisung’s family first before Hyunjin showed up.

Jisung thought it would be Changbin and him forever. He didn’t want another addition throwing things out of balance. Changbin already spent less time with him by having to split his time with Hyunjin. Even though Jisung hung out with Minho at school, he got jealous seeing them together even.

The worst part was that Hyunjin seemed to fit in. It was like he was already a part of the family before he was officially adopted. For some reason that Jisung couldn’t place, he felt insecure, and maybe a little jealous.

Unfortunately, the way he felt didn’t go unnoticed by Hyunjin, or anyone for that matter.

“Put your plate in the dishwasher.” Hyunjin reminded him as he set it down on the counter after breakfast.

“You do it.” Jisung grumbled. “You’re closer.”

“Changbin said-.” Hyunjin started to say.

“I know what he said!” Jisung snapped. “I know better than you. I’ve been here longer.”

The thing was, Jisung never felt better after his little outbursts. He only felt worse. And it only got more unbearable when Hyunjin started pushing back against him.

“Stop being so picky!” Jisung huffed when Hyunjin insisted on how they were supposed to make a simple sandwich. Changbin had given them the task since they were going to the beach for the day.

“I want to make my sandwich the way I like it.” Hyunjin stood up for himself. “You don’t have to manage what I do.”

“You’re taking forever and he said to make them all the same!” Jisung argued back.

“I can do my own however I want because it’s mine!” Hyunjin pulled the bread away from him.

“Fine then, make all of them! Since apparently you’re the expert!” Jisung threw his hands up and turned away.

“You just didn’t want to do your job.” Hyunjin said under his breath as he walked away.

“What did you say?” Jisung turned and glared at him.

“You’re trying to get out of doing what Changbin told you, like always.” Hyunjin responded directly, tilting his head up.

“That’s not true.” Jisung stalked back over and grabbed the jar of mayonnaise.

“Just stop! You’ll make a mess if you do it while your angry!” Hyunjin yanked it from his hands again.

“I hate doing anything with you because you think you’re so smart!” Jisung clenched his fists to keep from throwing lettuce at Hyunjin or something.

“I just want to do things right.” Hyunjin seemed infuriatingly calm.

“There isn’t one way to do something!” Jisung pushed him aside with his body to use the counter space. “I do it better than you anyways.”

“Move out of my way!” Hyunjin shoved him back.

Jisung gasped and he felt nothing but rage towards Hyunjin. He was so sick and tired of everything he snapped. Before he could stop himself, his hand reached out and shoved Hyunjin as hard as he could away from him.

Hyunjin hit the floor with a thud. He stared up at Jisung in shock. Jisung was too angry to be shocked by his own actions.

“You’re such a jerk!” he shouted.

“What are you two doing?” Changbin appeared, his face stormy.

“He’s being so stupid!” Jisung gestured to Hyunjin.

“He pushed me!” Hyunjin motioned back.

“Jisung.” Changbin said in a stern tone. 

“Why are you looking at me?” Jisung gasped. “He’s the one-.”

“You never push someone.” Changbin reached down and helped Hyunjin up. “That’s the number one rule in the house.”

The fight left Jisung a little bit as Hyunjin looked at him coldly. It was the top rule. They were never supposed to hit or shove, or let things get physical in any way. Jisung didn’t mean to break the rule, it just happened.

“What’s going on Ji?” Changbin asked Jisung. “You keep making fights out of nothing.”

Jisung stared at him, shocked at the unfairness of it all and how Changbin was taking Hyunjin’s side.

“Just… try to keep it civil for the day.” Changbin turned away with a final displeased look.

Jisung didn’t know what to say so he escaped. He made sure to harshly bump shoulders with Hyunjin as he moved around him.

“Jisung!” Now Changbin sounded angry but Jisung ignored.

He slammed the door to his room closed and then sat on his bed with his arms crossed. He couldn’t believe Changbin was actually working against him. It made him so mad he wanted to throw something. He was even more angry when Hyunjin came in the room like nothing had happened.

“We leave in five minutes.” he informed Jisung.

“Get out of my room.” Jisung answered.

“It’s not just your room. It’s my room now too.” Hyunjin challenged, exercising his room rights now that Changbin had made him a permanent resident.

“It’s mine, now get out!” Jisung grabbed his pillow and raised it to throw at Hyunjin.

Luckily, Hyunjin backed down and left. It made Jisung feel absolutely awful.

It was tense as they headed out the door. Hyunjin and Changbin hadn’t said anything further about what had happened but it seemed like a dark cloud hung over them.

“I loaded a bunch of stuff in the front so you two will have to sit in the back.” Changbin said as he set a bag down on the concrete.

“I’m not sitting in the back with him.” Jisung said, referring to Hyunjin.

“I don’t mind.” Hyunjin said coldly. “I mind my own business.”

Jisung opened his mouth to respond but Changbin stepped in.

“Both of you, don’t fight over the seats.” he said, putting a picnic blanket in the back of the car.

“Jisung, did you bring sunscreen?” Changbin asked.

“Yes. I did.” Jisung gritted out.

“No you didn’t. You left it on the dresser upstairs.” Hyunjin corrected him.

“Fine then! Let me go get it!” Jisung tossed down his bag and turned angrily to go inside and retrieve the offending item.

He hadn’t noticed Changbin had opened the driver’s side door and he turned too fast, not paying attention to his surrounding in anger. His momentum carried him straight into the side of the door. The sharp metal edge connected with the side of his head and sent a stroke of pain shooting through his brain.

Immediately, he hunched over, his hand coming up to cradle the area above his temple which he had smashed against the door. It hurt. A lot.

“Oh my gosh-.” Hyunjin gasped.

Jisung wanted to respond back but his head was throbbing from the sudden collision. His fingers brushed over the space next to his eyebrow and he flinched.

“Are you okay?” Hyunjin asked a moment later when Jisung didn’t stand straight again.

A drop of red hit the concrete under Jisung, another droplet sliding down his arm. He vaguely registered he must be bleeding.

“Changbin!” Hyunjin called for him, a trace of panic entering his voice, and touched Jisung’s back. 

Another drop of blood dripped to the ground from Jisung’s head and he let out a shaky breath. Hyunjin touched his elbow, leaning over to try to see his injury but Jisung didn’t pull his hand away.

“What is wrong now?” Changbin asked in exasperation before he saw Jisung. “Shoot-.”

“He hit his head on the door.” Hyunjin told him.

“Ah Jisung.” Changbin moved Hyunjin aside and mirrored his position. “Let me see.”

Jisung felt more warm liquid slide down his face and drip from his chin. He didn’t want to stand up fully, afraid to move.

“Move your hand.” Changbin pulled his wrist away and sucked in a breath when he saw the damage inflicted by the door.

“Hold on-.” Changbin reached for a towel and then pressed it against the side of Jisung’s head. He flinched, it hurt, but not terribly. It felt almost numb now, just throbbing with his heartbeat.

“Are you okay…” he heard Hyunjin say behind him.

“You have to be more careful.” Changbin lifted his chin as he stood straight. Jisung felt a little sick seeing the blood on his own hand.

“Let’s go inside.” Changbin helped him walk with the towel pressed against his head.

“Do I have to go to the hospital?” Jisung asked. It was kind of drastic but he was worried.

“I don’t think so. Sit down.” Changbin had him sit on the closed toilet seat. “Let’s see.”

Changbin set aside the big towel and grabbed a smaller one. He wet it slightly and gently wiped the wet side over the side of Jisung’s face and chin, cleaning away the blood. Then he pressed the dry side to the area next to Jisung’s eyebrow.

“Hurts.” Jisung reached up to touch his head but Changbin pushed his hand down.

“You’ve got a little cut.” Changbin told him. “It’s just bleeding a lot.”

“Am I in danger?” Jisung asked.

“No.” Changbin laughed a little bit. “You’re just fine Jisung.”

“I want to wash my hand.” Jisung held his hand awkwardly to the side so he didn’t get blood on his shorts.

“Okay.” Changbin let him do as he wanted, helping him keep pressure on the cut. He moved the towel away when Jisung stood in front of the mirror. Just for a moment so he could see his injury. It was a rather small cut actually. It was starting to bruise around it though.

“That should be good.” Changbin pressed a gauze square over it and taped it down.

“I’m so clumsy.” Jisung winced.

“You have a problem with cars don’t you.” Changbin shook his finger teasingly at him.

“They obviously have something against me.” Jisung pouted.

“How are you feeling? Do you want to go to the beach still, or rest?” Changbin asked. They had been planning the beach day for a while. Plus, it was a long drive to the beach so they had gotten up early for a head start.

“The beach.” Jisung decided. He didn’t like staying home alone. Plus, he didn’t want to miss out on the fun.

“Are you okay?” Hyunjin stood up from the curb when he came out.

“I’m just fine.” Jisung said, a little embarrassed. 

The next morning, his head was so sore he groaned when he got up. He padded sleepily downstairs to see Misun was over. She must have brought Changbin coffee judging by the coffee cups in both of their hands.

“Don’t cuddle in front of me.” Jisung said, even though he didn’t really care. He just felt like saying it for the principle.

Changbin shook his head and hugged Misun a little closer to him on the couch.

“Looks like you have a little injury.” Misun observed.

“I’ll see how it’s looking.” Changbin had Jisung sit on the coffee table in front of him and leaned forward to take the bandage off.

“Better?” Jisung asked.

“Worse.” Changbin whistled at the sight but smiled. “You really did a number on yourself.”

“Dang… you look like you were in a boxing movie.” Misun leaned closer to see.

“This is what parenting boys looks like.” Changbin tilted his chin so Misun could see.

“Hopefully this isn’t a regular occurrence.” she laughed.

“Only for Jisung cuz he hurts himself easily.” Changbin teased.

Jisung pouted at them and crossed his arms. When he looked in the mirror after getting dressed, he winced. There was a little cut above his temple by his eyebrow. The area around it was bruised a dark shade with shadow stretching a little into his eye as well. He groaned and dropped his head, wincing at the movement.

“When will it go away?” he whined to Changbin when he came back downstairs. “The dance is next week!”

Right on cue, the doorbell rang. Minho was coming over for the day.

“Tell him I’m upstairs.” Jisung said before dashing back to his room. No hats or caps would cover the bruise but Jisung tried his best to cover it lightly with his hand while sitting at his desk.

“What are you doing?” Minho asked as soon as he came in the room.

“Nothing.” Jisung shrugged.

“You’re being very suspicious…” Minho frowned at him.

“Ugh, whatever.” Jisung dropped his hand and slouched over in his seat.

“Woah! What happened?” Minho crossed the space to look at his face closer.

“Don’t look at it!” Jisung groaned, trying to cover it again. Minho pulled his hand away just as fast.

“Did you get in a fight? Or were you just being clumsy again?” Minho smirked.

Jisung glared at him.

“The dance is in a week!” Jisung cried as Minho sat on his bed. “What if it hasn’t faded enough by then?”

“Then you’ll look kinda badass.” Minho shrugged.

“It makes me look so ugly.” Jisung hung his head dejectedly and stared at his hands.

“Oh please.” Minho scoffed. “You literally couldn’t look ugly if you tried.”

“Don’t call me cute.” Jisung raised a finger in warning, already knowing where the conversation was going.

“But your chubby cheeks-.” Minho teased.

Jisung threw an eraser at him.

“Just don’t go banging into any more things without my permission.” Minho said sternly.

“I’ll try not to.” Jisung sighed. “Do you think it will go away before the dance?”

“I don’t see why not.” Minho shrugged. “Put a cream on it or something.”

“You’re right.” Jisung stood. “I’ll go ask Changbin for something.”

He came back with a tube of cream to reduce swelling and bruising. He winced when he dabbed a little on the area.

“You’re not even getting it on the right spot.” Minho shook his head and laughed at him. “Let me do it.”

He had Jisung sit on the bed as he stood in between his knees and carefully applied the medicine. He was gentle and the sting of the cream faded quickly. Jisung frowned, looking at his arm as he did it.

He reached up and brushed his fingers over Minho’s wrist. There was a black smudge there.

“What is this?” he asked.

“Oh nothing.” Minho pulled his arm away quickly. Jisung frowned. It was suspicious.

The bruise faded slowly over the next few days. On the day of the dance, it was still faintly noticeable but Jisung tried to ignore it. 

Jisung couldn’t wait to go to the dance. He spent all day feeling restless and counting down the hours until Chan was coming to pick them up. He would be driving Minho and Jisung to the dance.

Jisung felt guilty for a minute seeing Hyunjin studying at the table when he came downstairs. Hyunjin didn’t have anyone to take him so he was staying home. Changbin would probably do something with him but Jisung could tell Hyunjin was disappointed.

He tried to avoid the slightly older boy as he got ready. He had already splashed colors on his shirt beforehand so all he had to do was get dressed really. He wore ripped black jeans, his color splashed t-shirt and his worn converse. It was nice to be able to go to a casual dance, not that he had ever been to one. This would be his first.

When the doorbell rang, he dashed downstairs and opened the door. Turns out it was only Changbin returning from grocery shopping.

“You look excited.” Changbin commented.

“They’re late.” Jisung groaned, following him with heavy steps to help him bring in groceries.

“Actually they’re early.” Changbin laughed. “You’ll have a whole hour after they get here before you have to actually leave.”

He was right. Minho had told Jisung he wanted to come to his house early so he could get ready there. Jisung wasn’t sure why he couldn’t get ready at his own house but he didn’t mind.

“Finally!” Jisung cheered when Chan’s car pulled up.

“You said you would be here fifteen minutes ago.” Jisung scolded Minho as soon as he joined him in the front yard.

“I’m sorry. I know you’re excited.” Minho laughed and poked his cheek.

“I thought you said you were getting ready here?” Jisung frowned, seeing he was already dressed and ready.

“Oh yeah. I wanted to surprise you.” Minho said. “Go in and sit down on the couch.”

“A surprise?” Jisung was definitely not expecting anything.

Once he was sitting down, Minho had him close his eyes while he got the surprise from the car. Jisung fidgeted impatiently.

“Alright. This is my apology since I didn’t ask you to the dance in some special way.” Minho laughed a little. “And also because your birthday is coming up and I wanted to give you a present early.”

“Can I open?” Jisung tapped his fingers on his knee excitedly.

“Open!” Minho said.

It took Jisung a moment to realize what was happening. Minho stood in front of him, holding something out to him. Chan and Changbin were watching from the side.

Jisung reached out and lightly ran his fingers down the surface of the guitar.

“I know you can’t practice your music outside of class since you don’t have your own.” Minho explained. “Now you have one that’s yours, not the school’s.”

Jisung still stared at it in awe, his mouth open slightly. When Minho extended it closer to him, he took it carefully in his arms.

“It’s really for me?” Jisung whispered, touching the strings softly.

“Yep. It’s actually kind of a group gift. From Chan and Changbin too.” Minho gestured to the two dads on the side.

“Where did you get it?” Jisung asked. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from it.

“It’s an interesting story.” Chan came to sit next to Jisung. “It’s actually been sitting in my garage for years. Minho and I dug it out when he came up with the idea of getting you one.”

Jisung nodded. That must have been why Minho had a smudge on his arm.

“Changbin gave it to me when we were kids.” Chan smiled at Changbin who drew closer. “I thought it would be great to give it to someone who would use it. Turns out it’s going back into Changbin’s family.”

“You don’t want to keep it?” Jisung raised his head to ask.

“I never play it.” Chan shook his head. “I’m just too busy and I feel guilty about having it sit in my garage.”

“It’s in good condition. Chan helped me pick out new strings and tune it.” Minho explained.

“I know you already know how to play, but if you need help you can ask me, or Changbin.” Chan smiled.

“Thank you.” Jisung said quietly.

“It was really Minho’s idea, and his effort fixing it up.” Chan replied.

Jisung carefully set the guitar aside and then launched himself into Minho. He wrapped his arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

“Thank you so much!” 

Minho hugged him back, giving him a little squeeze.

“You’re welcome. I hope you like it.” he laughed.

“I love it!” Jisung assured him.

Jisung was unbelievably happy. The entire night was wonderful. He had a blast at the dance and so did Minho. They came out to the car when Chan picked them up laughing and hanging on each other. Jisung thought he was the happiest person ever that night.

He spent hours upon hours the next week practicing with his guitar. It was the best present he had ever received, especially knowing Minho put so much thought into the gift.

He even got Changbin to play a few songs on it though he acted shy about it.

For a little while, Jisung was on top of the world. But when he finally came down it felt like a hard fall. He just couldn’t stand Hyunjin sometimes. It started with him being bothered by little things he did in the morning but by lunch they were at each other’s throats again.

“There’s a sale at the store we went to when I first came here.” Hyunjin told Changbin at the dinner table. “I kind of wanted new shoes… It only lasts today.”

Hyunjin asked so shyly it made Jisung narrow his eyes.

“Yeah, of course!” Changbin nodded. “You do need a new pair and I can get new sneakers for Jisung too.”

“I was going to ask if you could drive me to Minho’s house.” Jisung cut in.

“Mm… it’s kind of late.” Changbin looked at his watch. “We should get to the store soon so we don’t miss the sale. Why don’t you come with us Ji?”

“I wanted to go to Minho’s to study though.” Jisung groaned.

“You can study here or see him tomorrow.” Changbin turned him down.

Jisung glared down into his food and declined going with them.

He wandered into his room and flopped on his bed to call Minho.

“Hi.” Jisung sighed loudly. “I can’t come over. Hyunjin’s fault.”

“That’s okay.” Minho replied. “Why is it Hyunjin’s fault?”

“He wanted to go to the store with Changbin so he took my ride.” Jisung grumbled. “SO annoying.”

“That’s not even his fault.” Minho laughed.

“Why do you like him so much?” Jisung groaned.

“Why do you dislike him so much.” Minho flipped it on him.

“Because he’s so picky about his things. Always telling me to keep my things on my side of the room, or don’t touch his products in the bathroom. Plus, he thinks he’s so cool acting so unphased and unbothered all the time when he really loves to nitpick.” Jisung spouted off reasons easily.

“That sounds like a you problem.” Minho replied.

“What do you mean?” Jisung frowned.

“He only does those things because you leave a mess, or take his things. And he acts so chill because he is. You just see him as aloof even though it’s not true.” Minho elaborated. “Maybe it’s perfect you’re roommates. He’s fixing your bad habits.”

Jisung was quiet for a moment. Minho’s words hurt a little. Maybe a lot.

“He wasn’t supposed to stay here forever.” Jisung mumbled.

“How would you like it if I told you that you didn’t belong?” Minho replied. “None of us deserve to be here but our parents chose us. It’s not your place to tell him he isn’t welcome.”

Minho so easily crushed all of Jisung’s arguments it made him feel almost childish and petty for bringing them up.

“You two should talk to each other. You both come to me.” Minho laughed.

Jisung bristled at that. Hyunjin came to Minho with his problems? That was Jisung’s thing. He was the one who came to Minho for help. He knew that Hyunjin and Minho were friends but Minho and Jisung were best friends.

“I don’t need to talk to either of you.” Jisung hung up. It felt immature and it gave him a sick feeling in his stomach.

When Hyunjin called Jisung downstairs there felt like there was a knot in his stomach.

“This is your pair.” Hyunjin extended shoes Changbin had gotten him.

“Try them on to make sure they fit.” Changbin said. 

Jisung did as he said silently.

“They fit.” he murmured.

“Hyunjin picked those ones out.” Changbin said before heading to his study.

Jisung looked at Hyunjin. He stared back with no expression. Jisung took the shoes off.

“You can’t say you don’t like them just because I picked them out.” Hyunjin said softly as he moved past Jisung to go upstairs.

Jisung followed him, shoes in hand. They were actually a style he liked.

“I actually like them a lot.” Jisung replied tensely. “I like them because Changbin bought them for me.”

“It’s not a competition.” Hyunjin said as Jisung followed him upstairs. “Changbin bought mine too.”

“I never said it was a competition.” Jisung answered. “Why, is it to you?”

“You’re so stupid.” Hyunjin muttered under his breath as they entered their room.

That was the final straw for Jisung. The final tiny dig that set him off.

He threw down his shoes with a thud and clenched his hands into fists.

“I get it!” he snapped. “Don’t you think I get it by now? You don’t have to tell me how stupid I am because I already know!”

Hyunjin stared at him, surprised by his sudden outburst.

“I know I’m annoying and immature and all the mean things you’ve said!” Jisung shouted.

Jisung wasn’t really thinking. He was just shouting whatever came to his mind first. Hyunjin had hurt him and now he wanted him to know it.

“You think your life is so hard? Why do you have to make mine so hard too?” Jisung stomped his foot. “I was happy before you came here and then you showed up and ruined everything!”

Jisung was shouting loud enough for the whole house to hear now.

“What do you want me to say? I hate myself? Fine, I hate myself because of you!” Jisung jabbed his finger at Hyunjin and he flinched, eyes wide in shock. “You make me feel so terrible I hate being around you!”

“I-.” Hyunjin tried to interject.

“I don’t want you to ever speak to me again!” Jisung was crying now, tears running down his face and making him even more ashamed. “I have to put up with you being here already! Just leave me alone!

He didn’t really register Changbin coming into the room. His vision was blurred by tears and he couldn’t hear past his heavy breathing.

“Do you want me to just leave!” Jisung screamed, his body shaking with the force of it. “I wish I could leave! I wish I never had to see your face ever again!”

“Jisung stop.” Changbin was taking him into his arms but Jisung fought it, pushing away to yell at Hyunjin again.

“Don’t talk to me ever again! Don’t come near me ever again!” Jisung yelled.

Finally, Changbin pulled Jisung close against him, pressing his face against his chest to stop him from shouting. Jisung still sobbed and struggled weakly.

“Take a deep breath.” Changbin said, keeping him in a firm group.

Somehow, Changbin led him out of the room without him flipping out at Hyunjin again. They moved to Changbin’s room and he closed the door so they could have some privacy.

Jisung felt completely and utterly lost. He felt hollow inside, like his body was heavy with an empty center. His harsh sobs faded into whimpers as he tired himself out completely.

“Sit down with me.” Changbin said softly and they sat on the edge of his bed.

Jisung kept his arms around Changbin’s waist, sniffling slightly. His heart was so broken, over a boy he just wanted to be friends with deep down inside but he couldn’t see it. For the first time that night, he saw that he was half of the problem.

“I’m sorry I didn’t break it up sooner.” Changbin stroked his fingers through Jisung’s hair.

After a moment, Changbin moved to put on his pajamas and then lay in bed, guiding Jisung to lay next to him with his head on his shoulder.

“What happened Ji?” Changbin asked softly.

“He called me stupid.” Jisung whispered back.

“Did he yell at you?” Changbin tried to understand what happened.

“Only I yelled.” Jisung admitted. “I just… feel so terrible. Every time he’s around it’s like he makes me feel like I’m worthless!”

Changbin rubbed his shoulder and pressed his cheek against the top of his head.

“I’m never talking to him again.” Jisung mumbled and pressed his face against Changbin’s warm chest.

“I’m sorry Jisung. I saw some things happen today and I didn’t comment on them which wasn’t fair to either of you.” Changbin apologized. “I should have paid closer attention and intervened sooner.”

“It’s not just today, it’s all the time.” Jisung whispered. “I feel… so bad all the time.”

He did feel bad. He felt like he was on a roller coaster. Hyunjin had a way of tearing him down from the heights so easily.

“It’s my fault.” Changbin sighed. “I try to intervene when I can but I’m not there every minute of the day. I honestly should have just sat the two of you down and helped you work it out from the beginning.”

Changbin positioned him so he could rest his head on his chest. He was feeling so exhausted and sleepy now.

“It’s my fault for being so annoying and terrible.” Jisung murmured.

“You’re not terrible.” Changbin shook his head. “Not at all.”

“Yes I am.” Jisung persisted.

“I’ll tell you over and over if that’s what it takes.” Changbin brushed his bangs back from his forehead gently. “You are my strong, energetic, loveable youngest. I know you hate when I say this, but you’re my baby! I can never stop loving my baby. And I could never think you’re terrible because it’s not true.”

Changbin pressed a kiss to Jisung’s forehead and he felt a fraction calmer at the action.

Jisung cuddled against Changbin like he had done when he was younger, letting him calm him down slowly. Once he was a little less distraught, a knock sounded on the door.

“Come in.” Changbin said, running his hand down Jisung’s back. Jisung kept his face turned against Changbin’s side, his eyes squeezed shut.

Judging by the silence, it was Hyunjin that stood in the room. Jisung tensed slightly. Hyunjin had every right to get angry and attack him right back. He would tell Changbin all the things he held against Jisung.

“I’m sorry.” 

It was quiet and hesitant but it was painfully sincere. 

Jisung’s hand gripped Changbin’s shirt tightly but kept his eyes closed. Changbin stroked his back up and down. It was not what Jisung had expected.

“I’m really sorry and… I didn’t mean those things.” Hyunjin said. “I… don’t hate you.”

Jisung stubbornly refused to acknowledge his presence because he was ashamed. He was embarrassed that Hyunjin was the one apologizing when he was the one who had flipped out.

“Please forgive me.” Hyunjin asked quietly.

Jisung couldn’t do it. He couldn’t show his face to Hyunjin.

“Thank you Hyunjin.” Changbin said gently and the soft click of the door closing was heard a moment later.

Jisung started crying again, just a little. Changbin held him until he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was it? 0.0 Another cliffhanger ahhh! Their relationship is a little rocky but they’re both soft on the inside. It gets better I promise! Please remember that a lot of the emotions Jisung is feeling are completely normal in a situation like this. Also Minho and Jisung friendship goals!


	10. Changbin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter! This one is so sappy I almost hate myself for posting it. But I hope you all like it anyways! Kind of really nervous to post pt. 3 cuz I worked a lot on it and I feel like it’s my best, but also, I basically crammed a lot of mental processes in it so it’s a bit heavy! But it will have Felix and Jeongin in it finally. Read my end note for spoiler alert! ;)

Changbin didn’t know what to do to solve the divide that had spread open between Jisung and Hyunjin. Something had shifted overnight and it felt tenuous. Jisung would be the last one to admit he was actually sensitive and insecure deep down inside. Changbin saw through to his heart easily even though Jisung often put up a brave front.

He truly didn’t hate Hyunjin. Changbin had tried to ease things between them but there was only so much he could do before they had to figure things out on their own. Their conflicts stemmed from them simply having different personalities. But Changbin believed they could be great friends because of how opposite they were.

Hyunjin had some much capacity for patience and forbearance that Changbin was sure he would ultimately be the one letting Jisung return to him with a hand extended in friendship.

He could see that Hyunjin felt bad. He could see it in his eyes the morning after. Jisung was still asleep in his bed. Wiped out after the day and night.

“Are you doing okay?” Changbin asked Hyunjin as he made breakfast.

“Is… Is Jisung coming downstairs for breakfast?” Hyunjin asked.

“I don’t know yet.” Changbin answered honestly. “He seemed really tired. He may sleep in.”

“Is he very mad at me?” Hyunjin asked nervously, watching Changbin closely for his response.

“He’s sad.” Changbin finally decided to say, wincing internally at how Hyunjin drooped at his words. “He doesn’t know how to say it but, the reason he’s so hurt by you is because he wants to be friends with you.”

“Why?” Hyunjin frowned after processing his words. “He doesn’t seem like he wants to be friends with me.”

“Think of it like this.” Changbin leaned his forearms onto the counter and held his hand up, palm flat, for Hyunjin to see.

“I adopted Jisung when he was eleven.” Changbin said. “He was so shy, sometimes he would cry when we talked to strangers.”

“Really?” Hyunjin looked shocked.

“He was very shy.” Changbin smiled and nodded. “He was talkative and open around people he knew, but strangers were hard for him to relate to.”

“I never thought he would be shy.” Hyunjin smiled a little.

Changbin grinned and shook his head. It was crazy how his shy demeanor had changed.

“Jisung was shy because he has a soft heart.” Changbin continued. “I know it may not seem like it, but he’s very gentle inside.”

Hyunjin stared at him, listening intently to his words.

“When he was younger lots of things hurt his heart.” Changbin explained. “But instead of him growing really hard, he did something amazing.”

Changbin drew Hyunjin’s attention back to his hand, as if Jisung’s heart lay in his palm.

“His personality, which was hidden inside, came out.” Changbin said. “In a way, he protects himself by wearing his emotions and feelings on the outside.”

Changbin curled his hand loosely.

“He wears his heart on his sleeve.” Hyunjin nodded in understanding.

“Exactly. But!” Changbin looked at him seriously. “He still wants to hide some things inside. Because they make him feel shy again.”

Changbin slowly lay his hand flat again and tapped his palm.

“If I could guess, inside here, he would say he’s nervous because you came and he doesn’t feel like he can keep up as well anymore.” Changbin said gently. “I think he would say he’s a little insecure because Changbin is someone he looks up to a lot. And I think he would say he wants to be friends with you, but doesn’t know how, because you’re very different.”

Hyunjin nodded solemnly. Changbin could tell he treasured all of Changbin’s words carefully.

“Jisung can say a lot of harsh things, but words are what hurt him the most.” Changbin said.

“I said a lot of hurtful words.” Hyunjin admitted openly.

“Words are also what heal him the best.” Changbin replied. “If you can be honest with him and let him know how you feel, he’ll be comforted.”

“Do you think he’ll forgive me?” Hyunjin asked, fiddling nervously with the sleeves of his sleep shirt. “I want to be friends with him. I really do. I… like spending time with him. When we aren’t fighting. Like at the street fair.”

“I think he’ll forgive you.” Changbin nodded. “But you’ll have to let him know if you forgive him too. I know most of the conflict was because he felt the need to lash out and protect himself.”

“I already forgive him.” Hyunjin said. “I just want to be friends.”

Changbin smiled and reached out his arm for a hug. Hyunjin moved around the counter and hugged him. Hyunjin was his sweet boy. He had a good heart and Changbin was proud of him.

Changbin went to wake Jisung up. He was still buried under a mound of blankets. Changbin gently uncovered them and rubbed his shoulder with his thumb.

“Wake up Ji.” he said softly until his eyes fluttered open. “I’m sorry to wake you up baby but we have things to do today.”

Jisung rubbed his eyes sleepily with his hands. Changbin smiled and moved to his closet to change out of his pajamas. When he was done, Jisung was sitting up, still blinking tiredly. His face was a little swollen from crying but he had combed down his bedhead.

“I have to go to the store to get the last few things for Hyunjin’s party.” Changbin said. “You can come if you like.”

Jisung stared down at his hands, considering for a long moment. Hyunjin’s party was tomorrow. Changbin hoped the tension would ease a bit before then. He sat next to Jisung and put his hand on his knee.

“I know you’re both having a hard time right now.” Changbin said gently. “But could we both try to be cheerful for his birthday?”

Jisung was silent again and then reached up, pulling Changbin down so he could whisper in his ear. There was no one in the room with them but Changbin suspected Jisung was just feeling especially shy.

“Okay.” he nodded at Jisung’s request. “We can do that.”

Changbin got everything done for Hyunjin’s party during the day because he was taking Misun out on a date that evening. Chan was over to watch the boys, even though Changbin trusted them to take care of themselves. He just knew they would feel safer having Chan there since it would probably be late when he got home.

He took Misun to a restaurant overlooking the beach. It was a nice restaurant, one that Changbin had wanted to take her to for a long time. He loved spending time with her. Whether it was an official date or when he came home to find her catching up on the laundry he hadn’t had time to get to.

She was his person. The one who knew him better than anyone else. The one he shared his triumphs and struggles with. The one who fit perfectly into his life. He wanted to treasure every moment with her.

“Do you want to walk out on the pier?” Changbin asked once they were done eating. The moon cast a pleasant glow over everything, including the water.

“Let’s go!” Misun grabbed his hand and started walking. Her hand fit perfectly in his.

He noticed she was shivering a little in the night air. He shrugged off his jacket and helped her put it on, pulling her arms through the sleeves gently.

“But you’ll be cold.” she pouted.

“I’m perfectly warm.” he smiled. “I have a sweater.”

She looked so soft and delicate wrapped up in his jacket. He couldn’t stop kissing her nose and cheeks, a little cold and perfectly soft and smooth. It was like she was carved of stone.

They stared out at the ocean for a little while.

“It’s so peaceful. And beautiful.” Misun sighed.

“Mm…” Changbin hummed, gazing out over the water.

“I’m sorry it’s not the most romantic date.” Changbin hugged her from behind and leaned his chin on her shoulder. “Just us and the ocean.”

“It’s perfect to me.” she smiled, turning her head to kiss him.

“I want to give you so many wonderful things.” Changbin said softly. “I just have so many things getting in the way… I want to clear them all away for you.”

“Your things are important.” Misun leaned back against him. “I would rather you be there for the boys than take me on a date.”

Changbin was so blessed he had found someone who loved his kids as much as he did and cared for their wellbeing.

“I’ve been thinking about them a lot.” she said. “They’re growing up and I’m really lucky I’ve been able to be a part of their lives.”

“I remember when we first met.” Changbin smiled.

“I really fell in love with you at first sight.” Misun laughed softly.

“Me too.” Changbin gently kissed her cheek.

“I have something I need to say.” Changbin noticed her tone became more serious. He nodded, indicating for her to continue.

“I know your life is busy right now and you have a lot on your mind and heart.” she said, her voice suddenly sounding unsure. “I know it’s not the right time or place, a-and you surely have to think about it-.” 

Changbin drew back so he could look at her face to face.

“I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” she breathed; her face heavy with emotion. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you and those three boys. Because I love you.”

“I rethought this over and over because I just- I want to make sure you’re ready, a-and you’re okay-.” Misun was starting to ramble nervously. Changbin gently held her arms, calming her down.

She slid her hand into her pocket, fumbling for a moment before lifting something in front of them.

“Will you marry me?” 

Changbin stared at the ring held in her fingers. His heart felt like it stopped beating for a moment. She wanted it? She was asking him? She was ready?

“Yes.” he replied, breath still stolen from his lungs. “Yes, a million times yes.”

He surged forward, hugging her tightly, wanting to hold her as close as possible. She was the one. The one he had waited for his whole life. The one he would spend the rest of his life with.

“I didn’t know if you would say yes.” she sobbed into his shoulder.

Changbin drew back and she wiped her tears, reaching for his hand.

With shaking fingers she slid the ring onto his finger. Once it was on, she tilted her head up for a kiss. Changbin stopped her gently, reaching into his own pocket. She looked confused for a moment before he sank down onto one knee.

“Oh my god-.” she gasped and covered her mouth with her hands.

“I know you beat me to it.” Changbin said. “But I have been carrying this around for months, waiting for the perfect time to ask you. I love you so much and I want to marry you.”

“Will you marry me?” he asked, still as serious as if she hadn’t just asked him.

“Yes.” She nodded and let out a small laugh. “Yes!”

He gently took her hands and slid the ring on. It fit perfectly. He stood and pulled her into a kiss, his hands on her waist.

“I’m sorry I made you wait so long.” he murmured.

Misun shook her head, happy tears slipping down her face.

“I love you enough I could wait forever.” she smiled.

“You have my heart.” Changbin whispered. “Forever.”

Hyunjin was still awake when Changbin got home. He was curled up on the couch, watching something with Chan.

“Hey.” Chan raised his head, grinning a little sheepishly. “I let this one stay up.”

“It’s fine.” Changbin said, smiling widely. He couldn’t stop smiling.

“Did you have a good time?” Hyunjin asked and then covered his mouth with a yawn.

Changbin stood there, just smiling at them for a moment.

“Are you okay?” Chan laughed, eyeing him suspiciously.

“I’m getting married.” he blurted out.

Silence hung in the room for a few seconds and then Chan shot off of the couch.

“Are you serious?!” Chan all but shouted, grabbing his arms and shaking him a little.

“I proposed. She proposed. We’re getting married!” Changbin hugged Chan, the slightly younger man jumping in excitement.

“I’m so happy for you! This is- Changbin! You’re getting married!” Chan laughed.

Changbin looked at Jisung who was still frozen in shock. As soon as Changbin extended an arm to him he broke into a huge smile and jumped off of the couch to give Changbin a hug. The three of them pressed together laughing and talking excitedly.

“My ring.” Changbin held out his hand.

“Woah…” Hyunjin grabbed his fingers and inspected it closely.

“I can’t believe she proposed!” Chan gasped.

“She kind of beat me to it.” Changbin laughed.

“What’s going on?” 

Jisung was at the foot of the stairs, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

“I’m sorry, did we wake you up?” Changbin asked.

“Jisung look!” Hyunjin held up Changbin’s hand. “Dad’s getting married!”

“To who?” Jisung asked blearily, still not fully awake. It sent them all into laughter again.

“Oh!” his eyes widened when he realized. “Really?!”

He ran to Changbin and tackled him in a hug. Changbin squeezed him tightly, his heart unbelievably happy.

“Misun is going to be my mom?” Jisung asked.

“Yep.” Changbin rumpled his hair.

“That’s so cool!” Jisung’s eyes sparkled and he ran to get his phone. “I’m going to text her how excited I am!” 

“She’s probably asleep.” Changbin told him. “You can tell her tomorrow.”

Jisung still sat down on the couch and started typing away. 

The next morning, Changbin still felt like he was on the top of the world. He got up early and made pancakes per Hyunjin’s request. Misun came over a little bit before the boys woke up.

They kissed for a little longer than normal on the front porch, a new warmth in both of their chests.

“Don’t get too carried away.” Misun laughed and drew away. “Today is about Hyunjin.”

“I love you too much.” Changbin stole another quick kiss before bringing her inside.

“I’m assuming you told them, judging by Jisung’s text last night.” Misun smiled.

“It kind of slipped out.” Changbin grinned back. “Chan knows too. Sorry we didn’t tell them together.”

“I don’t mind.” she patted his cheek and moved to help with breakfast.

Jisung came down first, immediately running to hug Misun and talk excitedly with her.

Hyunjin was next, coming down the stairs slowly. He stared at Misun for a moment and then a shy smile lit up his face.

“This is the best birthday present.” he whispered as he hugged her.

“What is?” she asked.

“Waking up and you’re already here.” Hyunjin smiled and Misun shared a look with Changbin.

“You’ll get double presents then because I also got you something for later.” she rumpled his hair slightly.

Hyunjin only wanted a small party. Just some of his friends from school. Changbin mostly set things up and then faded into the background. Misun and him went on a walk with Daisy and then sat outside and talked for a while.

Dinner time was the small family celebration. Hyunjin was a pretty low maintenance kid. He didn’t mind a small celebration, in fact he seemed to enjoy it more.

Changbin could tell Jisung was nervous when it was time to give gifts. Changbin half worried that he would back out. Jisung and him had talked a lot on their way to the store previously. Both Jisung and Hyunjin were so close to finally working things out.

“I have to explain my gift.” Jisung said quietly, being uncharacteristically subdued as it came time to give his gift. Hyunjin waited patiently, watching Jisung closely.

“Um… I didn’t wrap it.” Jisung rubbed his neck awkwardly, his hands holding onto a bag tightly.

“It’s okay.” Hyunjin shrugged graciously.

“Here.” Jisung handed him the bag.

Changbin could see Hyunjin frown a little, confused by the contents. He pulled out the desk lamp first.

“I know I burned yours out.” Jisung said. “So I replaced it.”

“Oh…” Hyunjin smiled at the thought. “Thank you.”

He pulled out face wash and lotion as well.

“Because I used yours.” Jisung explained.

Hyunjin smiled once he had packed the items back in the bag.

“Thank you. I really like everything.” he affirmed Jisung.

“And…” Jisung handed Hyunjin a card and then sat down. Changbin could tell he was unbelievably shy. It made him proud of his effort.

“You never gave me a card!” Changbin accused, lightening the atmosphere.

“Where did you get the money for all of these things?” Hyunjin asked, teasing a little. “I thought you were broke!”

“I sold my guitar.” Jisung answered.

Hyunjin stared at him, his mouth open. Everyone was shocked. Misun looked at Changbin and he nodded, confirming it was true.

“You can’t just- do that.” Hyunjin said, at a loss.

“You’re joking right?” he reached over and shook Jisung’s shoulder a little.

“No.” Jisung answered, managing to give him a small smile.

“You didn’t let him actually sell it, did you?” Hyunjin stood and turned on Changbin. He nodded his head slowly.

“You can’t.” Hyunjin said, his face looking stricken. “It’s so special to you.”

“It’s not as important as me saying sorry.” Jisung said strongly. “I want you to be friends with me more than I want my dumb guitar.”

“Don’t call it dumb.” Hyunjin’s lip trembled a little. “I don’t need any of these things to be your friend.”

“I want you to have your things.” Jisung replied. “You deserve to be here as much as I do. I wasn’t kind and I didn’t respect your things. I need to make up for that.”

“Stop talking nonsense and go get it back!” Hyunjin said.

Changbin reached over and touched Hyunjin’s arm, drawing him close to himself. It was a choice Jisung had made and Changbin had to respect it even though it hurt him too. He knew it was important for Jisung to do though.

“Why would you?” Hyunjin couldn’t understand. “It’s the most important thing to you.”

“Nothing’s more important than you guys.” Jisung gestured collectively to the family but Hyunjin was really his focus. It was just hard to say.

“Jisung’s given you a gift.” Changbin said gently to Hyunjin. “Will you accept it?”

The deed had already been done. It was up to Hyunjin if he accepted it or not.

“Thank you.” Hyunjin said sincerely. “I- thank you.”

“It’s the best gift…” Hyunjin said and Changbin knew he knew just how important the gift was. It wasn’t the items. It was the sacrifice.

Changbin was woken up around two in the morning by Jisung.

“What’s wrong?” he asked on reflex, still half asleep.

“Please tell me it’s okay.” Jisung whispered, standing next to Changbin’s bed.

“What?” Changbin pushed himself up and drew Jisung closer. He was crying.

“Tell me it’s okay…” he asked again.

“Oh baby, it’s okay.” Changbin pulled Jisung into a hug. “You did a good job sweetheart.”

“I’m sad.” Jisung sniffled against his shoulder. “I’m trying not to be but… I’m so sad.”

“It’s okay to be.” Changbin sighed. “You have every right to be sad.”

“I don’t regret it but… I still can’t stop thinking about it.” Jisung admitted.

“It’s okay Jisung. You can be sad.” Changbin held him until he stopped crying. For the second night in a week Jisung slept with Changbin. It was one of those nights.

Jisung did a good job not seeming sad in front of Hyunjin the next day. But Changbin and Hyunjin both knew he had taken a big step in the name of friendship.

“Can you take me somewhere?” Hyunjin asked Changbin after dinner, shoes already on and determination in his eyes.

Changbin smiled slightly. He knew Hyunjin wouldn’t let things go that easily. He nodded and they drove to the place Jisung had sold his guitar. Changbin had talked Jisung through if he wanted to sell his guitar very carefully. He knew that it was important and he couldn’t stop Jisung. He did the same check with Hyunjin.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Changbin asked. Hyunjin had been saving his money for a while.

“Yes.” Hyunjin nodded firmly.

Luckily, Jisung’s guitar had been stored in the back and they were able to buy it back fairly easily.

When Hyunjin walked in the door with Jisung’s guitar, he stood up from the couch, eyes wide.

“This is for you.” Hyunjin said, handing it to him.

“Y-You…” Jisung was stunned.

“I won’t let you give it away for me.” Hyunjin answered. “You really love it and I know… you really love me too, but I want you to be able to have it.”

Jisung took it into his hands slowly.

“I’m not your friend just because you gave something up for me.” Hyunjin continued. “I respect what you did but, we’re already brothers. No matter what you do, we’ll always be brothers. And I’m here to make sure you’re not sad.”

“So please don’t be sad anymore.” Hyunjin gave him a tentative smile. “Thank you for what you did, but let me do this for you as well.”

Jisung stared down at his guitar for a moment before setting it aside.

To Changbin’s relief, he stepped forward and gave Hyunjin a hug. There was something strong and sealing in the gesture. Hyunjin and Jisung had their differences, and their struggles, but in the end, they were friends. They were brothers.

In the weeks following, Changbin was caught up in a flurry of activity, preparing for his wedding. He was overjoyed to see Jisung and Hyunjin learning to live together. Not just live together, but thrive together.

They still had fights, tears were still shed, and moments of reconciliation had to take place, but it didn’t change the fact that Hyunjin and Jisung were changed. They both cared about each other enough to keep fighting for each other. Changbin was sure they would fight for each other for the eternity of their relationship. Because they were family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading and making it this far! I have really loved writing this series and love hearing your feedback from time to time! I hope this series can be a fun read but also informative and teach you all many things that I’ve experienced in my life! I am adding in Jeonglix in pt.3 and I am pretty hyped to dig deeper into some specific things that happen with foster kids and adopted kids. If anyone wonders about my background, I have two family members, one adopted, and one fostered, that I draw a lot of inspiration from. My mom is actually a foster child as well and one of my best friends is in a foster family. I have taken the experience I have and work with kiddos age 3-6, as a teacher, with varying states of home lives. From fostered to adopted. SO that’s a little bit about me! I am also 19 and am a Business Marketing/PR student!  
> Oh! For the spoiler! I made Jeongin and Felix younger cuz I love writing kids and feel I was able to apply what I wanted to talk about with them at a young age! I hope you like reading as much as I loved writing! And yes, the older kids are still present! ;D


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